Press Release for The Sigourney Award-2021

The Sigourney Award-2021 Honors Three Recipients With Distinguished International Prize for Advancing Psychoanalytic Thought
Independent Panel of Judges Select Psychoanalytic Work With Impact From Argentina and the USA

Seattle, WA — Nov. 18, 2021 – The Sigourney Award annually rewards achievements that advance psychoanalytic thought and practice with international recognition and a substantial cash prize. This year, a panel of distinguished judges evaluated applications from five continents for The Sigourney Award-2021. The work recognized represents significant advancement of psychoanalytic thought. Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and psychoanalyst co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust, announces three winners whose work merits the prestigious, independent award.

Mary Sigourney founded The Sigourney Trust in 1989 to recognize and promote exceptional work that employs psychoanalytic thought to better humankind.

“Selecting outstanding work that contributes to and strengthens the future of psychoanalytic thought while aiding humanity is the daunting responsibility of our esteemed, independent judging panel,” says Dr. Myerson. “The impact of this year’s award-winning work truly spans the globe, including treatment and education of people in China, Israel, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, South America and beyond. We applaud the continuing expansion and application of psychoanalytic thinking around the world,” he adds.

The Sigourney Award-2021 Winning Work (Alpha order)

Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center
(MASSACHUSETTS, USA)
The nonprofit Erikson Institute demonstrates a significant commitment to, and investment in providing public and professional education about psychoanalysis as a clinical discipline and an applied theory for understanding human experience. The work contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship within psychoanalysis, between psychoanalysis and other related fields, and provides incubator support for projects in applied psychoanalysis that range from responding to local needs of schools, children, and families to understanding international conflicts. The Erikson Institute’s focus on youth, linking access to the arts with mental health, is a noteworthy innovation that expands psychoanalytic thinking beyond traditional clinical and academic boundaries, particularly within the context of limited arts education in schools and social isolation resulting from the pandemic. Through its Erikson Scholar program, interdisciplinary scholars have been invited to Riggs for three- to four-month research-based intellectual and clinical immersion residencies. Presenting its psychoanalytic identity in both clinical and public domains, the Erikson Institute has impacted new audiences through novel approaches. The Arts in Mind program and Creativity Seminars explore the connection between the arts and mental health, expanding reach beyond traditional clinical and academic boundaries. Research in psychoanalytic approaches to understanding suicide and personality, and advocacy for access to care with national impact are additional contributions.

Accepting the award on behalf of the Erikson Institute is Jane G. Tillman, PhD.

David Scharff, M.D., FABP and Jill Savege Scharff, M.D., FABP, MRC. Psych
(MARYLAND, USA)

The work of David Scharff, M.D., FABP and Jill Savege Scharff, M.D., FABP, MRC. Psych, Maryland-based partners, adapts psychoanalysis for those far from a psychoanalytic center and educating analysts to address remote treatment needs. Embracing teaching at the heart of their work, the Scharffs’ remote teaching and treatment work was accomplished in large part through the International Psychotherapy Institute (IPI) they co-founded, and as Supervising Analysts at the International Institute for Psychoanalytic Training (IIPT at IPI) and Teaching Analysts at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. The Scharffs developed an innovative, analytic training methodology and paved a non-traditional path to deliver analysis remotely. The new training methodology allowed the application of psychoanalytic approaches to family and couple psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, while their early adoption of technology expanded access to psychoanalytic psychotherapy in areas and countries previously beyond reach. Long before the pandemic forced psychoanalytic clinicians to endorse remote learning and service delivery, the Scharffs’ work employed videoconference technology in certificate programs that have reached psychoanalytically oriented trainees in the United States, China, Russia, and Latin America, with additional programming that enabled them to reach trainees and colleagues in such locations as Greece, Austria, South Africa, New Zealand, and Israel. Their books and articles have reached a worldwide audience through translations into eight languages, while their contribution to the dissemination of free e-books expanded access to psychoanalytic literature for readers in 200 countries and territories.

Dr. Jorge Claudio Ulnik
(BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA)

The innovative psychosomatic and psychodermatologic work developed by Dr. Jorge Ulnik exemplifies the important work being done on the mind-body relationship from a psychoanalytic perspective. Dr. Ulnik is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Associate Professor of Pathophysiology and Psychosomatic Diseases and Adjunct Professor of Mental Health at the Buenos Aires University in Argentina. His work represents an innovation that continues the work of Freud ("the skin is the erogenous zone par excellence") and pioneers such as Enrique Pichón-Rivière, Max Schur, Didier Anzieu, Esther Bick, and others. At the psychosomatic dermatology center founded by Dr. Ulnik, dermatologists refer patients to psychoanalytic therapy, continuing and strengthening psychoanalytic perspectives into areas primarily thought of as medical. Dr. Ulnik's work has helped to revitalize psychosomatic research, theory, and practice in Latin America, Spain, and Russia. His work also reached Europe, North America, Australia, South Korea, and Israel, encouraging renewed interest in research, and promoting awareness of psychoanalysis’ importance in the treatment of somatic diseases. The work encouraged doctors and patients to work with psychoanalysts and advanced psychoanalytic understanding of emotional engagement expressed by the body and specially by the skin. Presentations of this work in many cities where psychoanalytic approaches are not integrated into medical practices have supported the importance of psychoanalysis in treating psychosomatic disorders, and trained doctors and general practitioners to understand the mind-body connection.

“The caliber of the 2021 applicants’ work and the expansive reach achieved through training, learning, and clinical application across the globe is inspiring. We look forward to continuing to expand public awareness of the benefits of psychoanalytic thinking and practice. We are excited by the new and innovative ways that psychoanalytic approaches are being used to benefit the human experience,” says Barbara Sherland, J.D., attorney co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust.

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Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center Wins The Sigourney Award-2021

Work by Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center Wins The Sigourney Award-2021

Seattle, WA — Nov. 18, 2021 – The Sigourney Award annually rewards achievements that advance psychoanalytic thought with international recognition and a substantial cash prize. This year’s distinguished panel of independent judges evaluated work submitted from five continents. Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust announces the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center’s work as one of three honored with The Sigourney Award-2021.

Work by the Erikson Institute for Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts demonstrates a significant commitment to, and investment in providing public and professional education about psychoanalysis as a clinical discipline and an applied theory for understanding human experience. The work contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship within psychoanalysis, between psychoanalysis and other related fields, and provides incubator support for projects in applied psychoanalysis that range from responding to local needs of schools, children, and families to understanding international conflicts.

“Supporting Mary Sigourney’s intentions for the award, work by the Erikson Institute helps expand the beneficial elements of psychoanalytic thought to diverse communities around the world,” says William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, the Trust’s psychoanalytic co-trustee. “Offering a focus on public outreach to youth and communities, and an innovative linking of the arts with mental health, especially important amidst the social isolation experienced during the pandemic, distinguishes this prize-winning work,” he adds.

The Erikson Institute’s focus on youth, linking access to the arts with mental health, is a noteworthy innovation that expands psychoanalytic thinking beyond traditional clinical and academic boundaries, particularly within the context of limited arts education in schools. Through its Erikson Scholar program, interdisciplinary scholars have been invited to Riggs for three- to four-month research-based intellectual and clinical immersion residencies. Research in psychoanalytic approaches to understanding suicide and personality, and advocacy for access to care with national impact are additional contributions.

Academically, in the past 10 years, 26 Erikson Scholars-in-residence and two Senior Erikson Scholars have been sponsored through the Erikson Scholar program. Additionally, the Erikson Institute created an institutional archive for the organization’s 2019 Centennial which includes manuscript collections from Otto Will, Robert Holt, and Erik Erikson now available to scholars for research. The Erikson Institute integrates psychoanalytic training, research, applied psychoanalysis, group dynamics, community outreach, advocacy for policy change supporting access to care, seeking maximal impact on the field and in the community.

Presenting its psychoanalytic identity in both clinical and public domains, the Erikson Institute has impacted new audiences through novel approaches. More than 1,000 visitors learned about the Center’s history of hospital-based psychoanalytic treatment in the context of North American mental health through a public exhibition in 2019. The Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media further reaches new audiences by recognizing writers, filmmakers, and journalists for coverage of mental health topics, providing a public forum for prize recipients to discuss their work. And the Arts in Mind program and Creativity Seminars explore the connection between the arts and mental health, expanding reach beyond traditional clinical and academic boundaries.

“Our mission is to preserve a space for learning that is linked to historical psychoanalysis while joining contemporary scholarship and advances in the field to make a difference in the world beyond the small number of patients we treat,” says Jane G. Tillman, PhD., accepting the Award on behalf of the nonprofit. “We strive to make psychoanalytic concepts accessible, relevant, interesting, and applicable to a wide range of problems and settings, and by winning The Sigourney Award-2021, our portfolio of psychoanalytic education, research, and advocacy is strengthened, and gains increased public awareness,” she adds.

This winning work for The Sigourney Award-2021 adds to a long list of innovative contributions advancing psychoanalytic thought that, since 1990, have been honored with the independent prize. This year, work by Argentinian Dr. Jorge Claudio Ulnik and Maryland-based physician-psychoanalysts Dr. David Scharff and Dr. Jill Savege Scharff was also rewarded.

Look for this year’s award-winning work introduced through individual videos on The Sigourney Award website in early 2022. Applications for The Sigourney Award-2022 will be accepted in March 2022 for work completed between 2011 and 2021. The Sigourney Award includes a substantial cash prize.

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David Scharff And Jill Savege Scharff Wins The Sigourney Award-2021

David Scharff And Jill Savege Scharff’s Work In International Psychoanalytic Tele-Analysis And Training Wins The Sigourney Award-2021 

Seattle, WA — Nov. 18, 2021 – The Sigourney Award annually rewards outstanding work that advances psychoanalytic thought and practice with international recognition and a substantial cash prize. This year submissions from five continents were evaluated by a distinguished panel of independent judges. Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and psychoanalyst co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust, announces that the innovative international tele-analysis and training work by Drs. David Scharff and Jill Savege Scharff, physician-psychoanalysts, is one of three meriting The Sigourney Award-2021.

The Maryland-based partners’ work adapts psychoanalytic thinking and practice for those far from a psychoanalytic center and educates analysts on how to provide remote treatment. Embracing teaching at the heart of their work, the Scharffs’ remote teaching and treatment efforts were accomplished in large part through the International Psychotherapy Institute (IPI) they co-founded, and as Supervising Analysts at the International Institute for Psychoanalytic Training (IIPT at IPI) and Teaching Analysts at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute.

“Modifying teaching and treatment delivery systems, and publishing our interpretation of projection of resistance, transference and countertransference onto technology, prepared reluctant analysts for teletherapy during COVID-19,” says Dr. David Scharff.

To accomplish this, the Scharffs developed an innovative, analytic training methodology and paved a non-traditional path to deliver analysis remotely. The new training methodology allowed the application of psychoanalytic approaches to family and couple psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, while their early adoption of technology expanded access to psychoanalytic psychotherapy in areas and countries previously beyond reach.

“The pioneering vision to expand psychoanalytic psychotherapy into geographic areas not previously reached by clinicians working psychoanalytically, and to work with psychoanalytically-oriented clinicians who were initially reluctant to accept teletherapy, supports the mission of the Award’s founder, Mary Sigourney. Her intent was to reward innovative advancement of psychoanalytic thought and practice,” says Barbara Sherland, The Sigourney Trust attorney co-trustee.

“The international dissemination of psychoanalysis’ value with family and couple psychotherapy further supports the work’s recognition,” notes Dr. Myerson.

Long before the pandemic forced psychoanalytic clinicians to endorse remote learning and service delivery, the Scharffs’ work employed videoconference technology in certificate programs that have reached psychoanalytically oriented trainees in the United States, China, Russia, and Latin America, with additional programming that enabled them to reach trainees and colleagues in such locations as Greece, Austria, South Africa, New Zealand, and Israel. Their books and articles have reached a worldwide audience through translations into Chinese, Russian, German, Korean, Japanese, French, Italian, and Spanish, while their contribution to the dissemination of free e-books in psychotherapy, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis expanded access to psychoanalytic literature for readers in 200 countries and territories.

“David and I have the broader community in mind, locally and internationally and continue to value individual analysis and training,” says Dr. Jill Savege Scharff. “Applying this to child, couple, and family therapy, especially in geographical areas such as China and Russia where there is reduced access to analysis and its applications, as well as to theatre, further defines our work,” she added.

This award-winning work joins a long list of innovative contributions advancing psychoanalytic thought that, since 1990, have been honored with this independent prize. Work by Argentinian Dr. Jorge Claudio Ulnik and the Massachusetts-based nonprofit, Erikson Institute For Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center, is also being rewarded in 2021.

Watch for individual videos featuring The Sigourney Award-2021 award recipients’ work on The Sigourney Award website in early 2022. Applications for The Sigourney Award-2022 will be accepted beginning in March 2022 for work completed between 2011 and 2021. The Sigourney Award includes a substantial cash prize.

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Dr. Jorge Claudio Ulnik Wins The Sigourney Award-2021

Innovative Psychosomatic And Psychodermatology Work Exemplifies Mind-Body Relationship And Earns Argentinian Dr. Jorge Claudio Ulnik The Sigourney Award-2021

Seattle, WA — Nov. 18, 2021 – The Sigourney Award annually rewards achievements that advance psychoanalytic thought with international recognition and a substantial cash prize. This year’s distinguished panel of independent judges reviewed applications from five continents. Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust announces Dr. Jorge Claudio Ulnik’s work in psychosomatics and psychodermatology and the work of two others have won The Sigourney Award-2021.

“Our founder, Mary Sigourney, intended to recognize and promote outstanding work that advances psychoanalytic thought and its ability to better humankind worldwide. Dr. Ulnik’s work reinvigorating medical and clinical interest in psychosomatic psychoanalytics exemplifies Mary’s vision,” says William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, the Trust’s psychoanalytic co-trustee.

The innovative psychosomatic and psychodermatologic work developed by Dr. Jorge Ulnik exemplifies the important work being done on the mind-body relationship from a psychoanalytic perspective. Dr. Ulnik is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Associate Professor of Pathophysiology and Psychosomatic Diseases (School of Psychology), and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Mental Health (School of Medicine) at the Buenos Aires University in Argentina. His work represents an innovation that continues the work of Freud (“the skin is the erogenous zone par excellence”) and pioneers such as Enrique Pichón-Rivière, Max Schur, Didier Anzieu, Esther Bick, and others. At the psychosomatic dermatology center founded by Dr. Ulnik, dermatologists refer patients to psychoanalytic therapy, continuing and strengthening psychoanalytic perspectives into areas primarily thought of as medical. Dr. Ulnik's work has helped to revitalize psychosomatic research, theory, and practice in Latin America, Spain, and Russia.

These concepts are taught at the Buenos Aires University, and widespread in social networks, medical publications, and congresses, and are of interest to psychoanalysts working with infantile mental states, attachment disorders, and somatic disorders.

“We live in times of bubbles, shells and screens. All of them insufficient wrappings – a kind of second skin – as a defense against the social and affective distancing that has been imposed on us. On the contrary, the recognition of the Sigourney Award will enable us to break barriers and continue building bridges between psyche and soma that can be crossed by physicians and patients, thus achieving a closer, more humane and personalized medical practice and a greater well-being in patients. At the same time, it leads us to continue working and researching to restore psychoanalysis to the place that general practitioners and specialists need it to occupy together with them in the difficult task - and art - of healing,” says Dr. Ulnik.

His work also reached Europe, North America, Australia, South Korea, and Israel, revitalizing interest in research and promoting awareness of psychoanalysis’ importance in the treatment of somatic diseases. The work encouraged doctors and patients to work with psychoanalysts and advanced psychoanalytic understanding of emotional engagement expressed by the body and specially by the skin. Presentations of this work in many cities where psychoanalytic approaches are not integrated into medical practices have supported the importance of psychoanalysis in treating psychosomatic disorders, and helped doctors and general practitioners to understand the mind-body connection. His book, Skin In Psychoanalysis (2007), translated in four languages and published in five countries, further shares this work’s benefits.

Apart from clinical work, Dr. Ulnik’s work includes development of film debates, conducting a Spanish cycle of cinema and psychoanalysis in London celebrating the 100th anniversary of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. These activities directed to the general public were then replicated in medical circles, TV, and Internet, facilitating a better knowledge and understanding of psychoanalysis and promoting it as a method for the deep comprehension of the human mind and the mind-body relationship.

According to Dr. Ulnik, millions of patients worldwide suffer from psychosomatic disorders and meanwhile, the study of psychosomatics has faded in many analytical institutes. Consequently, young analysts may not value the important contribution that psychoanalytic psychosomatics has made in theory and practice of analysis. The intention of his work is to revive interest in this vital area. His work expands audiences, by not only helping patients with skin or other somatic diseases, but by understanding why an allergy arises after a traumatic event, a psoriasis after a separation, etc. It advances in the understanding of the body language of the early childhood, in the symbiotic bonds of disorganized attachment, in the massive identifications, in the role of the own image and that of the others in the human psyche. 

This award-winning work adds to a long list of innovative contributions advancing psychoanalytic thought that, since 1990, have been honored with The Sigourney Award, an independent international prize. This year, work by the Massachusetts-based nonprofit, Erikson Institute For Education, Research, and Advocacy of the Austen Riggs Center, and Maryland-based physician-psychoanalysts, Dr. David Scharff and Dr. Jill Savege Scharff, was also deemed award-worthy.

“We are encouraged to receive and reward the diverse submissions which represent the expansion of reach and impactful role of psychoanalytic thought around the world,” says Barbara Sherland, J.D., attorney co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust.

This year’s winning work will be highlighted with individual videos on The Sigourney Award website in early 2022. Applications for The Sigourney Award-2022 will be accepted in March 2022 for work completed between 2011 and 2021. The Sigourney Award includes a substantial cash prize.

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