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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Attending IPA’s 52nd Congress from July 21-August 1?

IPA is featuring outstanding work in psychoanalysis, including the work of more than a dozen recipients of The Sigourney Award. We’re delighted that The Sigourney Award winners’ work continues to be valued and recognized:

Rosemary Balsam, 2018

Harold P. Blum, 1990

Roosevelt Cassorla, 2017

Cláudio Eizirik, 2011

Glen Gabbard, 2000

Yolanda Gampel, 2005

Jay Greenberg, 2015

Siri Gullestad, 2019

Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber, 2016

Julio Moreno, 2017

Warren Poland, 2009

Réne Rousillon, 2016

Mark Solms, 2011

Visit https://bit.ly/3iy9sZG for a complete details.

Pink Freud? Tune in!

Indulge me with your listening, asks Dr. Patricia Gherovici, in her recent podcast appearance with Psychoanaliterature. The Sigourney Award-2020 winner takes the audience through her work on transgender psychoanalysis, tracing its roots to the Argentinian Lacanian tradition and to “pink Freud.” 

Tune in: https://psychoanaliterature.pinecast.co/episode/99146b34/pink-freud

Deadline Extended!

Our application deadline has been extended.  The Sigourney Award-2021 applications are now due by Saturday, July 31st. Winners announced in November. Does your work qualify for this prestigious, international award and substantial cash prize honoring psychoanalytic achievement worldwide?

https://www.sigourneyaward.org/apply

In the News Again: Dr. Patricia Gherovici, 2020 Winner

Dr. Patricia Gherovici, originally from Argentina, had the opportunity to highlight her work with transgender individuals in Filo.News, an Argentinian publication. Within the article’s Q&A, Dr. Gherovici articulates how she believes psychoanalysis can serve marginalized communities and so many others.

The Sigourney Award is delighted to share Dr. Gherovici’s work with Filo.News’ impressive audience of more than 500,000 monthly visitors.

Read the full text here!

In the News Again: Dr. Anton Kris, 2020 Winner

Another fine example of work deserving of The Sigourney Award-2020, Dr. Anton Kris’ work bringing the Sigmund Freud archives to the public domain promises access for generations to come. The article he wrote prior to his passing about this work and more, is shared in Psychiatric Times. The publication editors were honored to share this posthumously and they did so with a kind dedication to his memory and his contributions to the field.

https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/reconsidering-freud

As Dr. Kris mentions in his writing, “I sought to retain Freud’s discoveries and innovations while acknowledging some changes in our views.”

ANTON KRIS (1934-2021) Obituary - Cambridge, MA - New York Times (legacy.com)

In the News: Harvard Recognizes Dr. Anton Kris, 2020 Winner

While working with The Sigmund Freud Archives, Dr. Kris’ work included raising funds and establishing the freedom from copyright for Freud’s holographs and bringing the Archives into the public domain, publishing them on the Library of Congress website. The digitization of the Archives has exponentially expanded readership; in the first six months, the new pages received 165,000 visits.

https://hms.harvard.edu/news/awards-recognitions-january-2021

We are deeply saddened to lose Dr. Anton Kris (1934 – 2021), especially in the year following his Sigourney Award. Days before he died, he wrote an article forPsychiatric Times; we will provide a link here once it is published.

In the News: The South African Psychoanalytical Association (SAPA), 2020 winner

As a nonprofit, SAPA strives to enhance diversity and inclusivity, and to increase the reach of psychoanalytic thought, education, training, and treatment in Africa. SAPA has dramatically increased the reach of psychoanalytic thought and psychoanalysis for people with histories of apartheid, racism, and trauma in South Africa.

Read the full article at Psychiatric Times.

In the News: Dr. Patricia Gherovici, 2020 winner

In this Psychiatric Times video, Dr. Gherovici addresses the complexities of providing psychoanalysis to patients whose lives are marked by poverty, migration, and race and gender discrimination.

Watch Full Video Here

In the News: Dr. Heli Morales, 2020 winner

El Economista spotlights Dr. Morales’ award-winning work with  psychoanalytical listening clinics designed to address the needs and pain of vulnerable, violated girls and women as well as the relatives of the disappeared. His training program, where psychoanalysts are well-prepared with clinical capacity coupled with listening and influencing social spaces previously unreached, is also highlighted.  

Read Full Article Here.

Dr. Morales’ work and receipt of The Sigourney Award earned a cover story in Mexico’s Reforma and replicated in El Norte, in the state of Neuvo León, Monterrey, which shared his work with millions of readers. The feature highlights Dr. Morales’ belief that human pain does not depend on social class, and shares his  dedication to “bringing psychoanalysis closer to underprivileged sectors that could hardly have access to a practice that for a long time has been considered elitist and with a bourgeois attitude.” 

Read Full Article Here.

Mark Solms, 2011 Winner, Releases New Book

On Feb. 16, former Sigourney Award winner, psychoanalyst & neuropsychologist Mark Solms releases a new book. "The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness” will offer a “revelatory new theory of consciousness that returns emotions to the center of mental life.” Bravo!

The Guardian offers an exceptional review. The Hidden Spring by Mark Solms review – the riddle of consciousness solved? | Books | The Guardian

Press Release for The Sigourney Award 2020

The Sigourney Award-2020 Honors Four Recipients With Distinguished Independent Prize for Advancing Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Thought

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Judges Select Psychoanalytic Work with Impact from Mexico, South Africa and the United States

Seattle, WA — Jan. 13, 2021 – A panel of distinguished judges evaluated a record number of applications received from 13 countries for The Sigourney Award-2020 and have selected four winners. Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and psychoanalyst co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust, announces the work that merits winning this prestigious, independent annual award which includes a substantial cash prize.

“The accomplishments rewarded recognize the evolution of our profession and represent the courageous application of psychoanalytic thinking as it is emerging around the world,” says Dr. Myerson.

The Trust’s founder, Mary Sigourney, sought to expand psychoanalysis in the world by recognizing and promoting the most insightful work that advances psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought and its ability to benefit the public good. Judges for The Sigourney Award hold strong to the Trust’s mission and remain anonymous to support an unbiased and thorough evaluation process.

The Sigourney Award-2020 Winners (Alpha order)
Patricia Gherovici, Ph.D., is a psychoanalyst who serves as Associated Faculty for the Psychoanalytic Studies Minor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder and director of the Philadelphia Lacan Group. Originally from Argentina, Dr. Gherovici’s work with marginalized communities, began with Latinx and expanded to include gender and sexual variant people. Addressing the complexities of delivering mental health services to disenfranchised and/or impoverished communities, her work is at the forefront of a change within psychoanalysis. In a departure from traditional psychoanalysis, she has been developing a new form of psychoanalytic practice oriented toward progressive social transformations for people segregated by “oppressive notions of normalcy.” Before most people within psychoanalysis were thinking about speaking about intersectionality, Dr. Gherovici was illuminating how race, trans and queer studies intersected problematically with psychoanalysis. Her work with trans and gender nonconforming analysands has contributed to the emerging new field “transpsychoanalytics.”

Anton Oscar Kris, M.D., is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a psychoanalyst, a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and a past Executive Director of The Sigmund Freud Archives, Inc. Dr. Kris’ work has helped to sustain and grow Freud’s theories in an age that has misunderstood and challenged Freud’s relevance, while providing leadership in a careful reconsideration of them. Where necessary, Dr. Kris led discourse which criticized and corrected Freud without any trace of idealization or devaluation through careful study of Freud’s source material and method, free association. As the Archives’ Executive Director, Dr. Kris’ work included raising funds and establishing the freedom from copyright for Freud’s holographs and bringing the Archives into the public domain, publishing them on the Library of Congress website. The digitization of the Archives has exponentially expanded readership. In the first six months, the new pages received 165,000 visits. These efforts provide invaluable and unprecedented visibility of Freud and psychoanalysis, the importance of which will be apparent to future generations of analysts, scholars, historians, and the lay public around the world. Balancing a deep appreciation of psychoanalysis’ roots with a modern, humanistic approach to and adaptation of traditional Freudian concepts, Dr. Kris’ work has already influenced analysts and psychotherapists around the world.

Helí Rafael Morales Ascencio, Ph.D., founder of the Social Foundation of Psychoanalysis in Mexico City, Mexico, is also a founding member of two other movements that include The Lacanian Analytical Network and the School of the Psychoanalytic Letter. The pioneering work of Dr. Morales addressed the lack of institutional psychoanalytic work aimed at low-income people in Mexico and illustrates how intersecting psychotherapy and activism can help survivors of violence and their families. He founded the Social Foundation of Psychoanalysis whose analysts provide care for victims of sexual violence and relatives of the 177,884 missing women in Mexico. One in three Mexican women are reportedly experiencing physical or sexual violence. The Foundation’s psychoanalytic listening clinics in Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Morelia, Puebla, and Oaxaca receive people without financial resources or hurt by sexist violence in response to the epidemic levels of physical or sexual violence. The Foundation has established a new and rare relationship between the state and psychoanalysis helping to implement support for rape victims through the Attorneys' Office for Sexual Crimes in Mexico City.

The South African Psychoanalytical Association (SAPA) of Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa, is a nonprofit organization that has dramatically increased the reach of psychoanalytic thought and psychoanalysis for people with histories of apartheid, racism, and trauma in South Africa. SAPA successfully established the first psychoanalytic society accredited by the International Psychoanalytical Association on the African continent and helped deconstruct racist barriers within psychoanalysis and psychoanalytical training. SAPA president, Elda Storck, accepts the Award on behalf of the organization. Through clinical, applied, and community work, SAPA has enhanced access to psychoanalysis across all economic and demographic boundaries for South Africa’s people. Following apartheid in 1948, South Africans who wanted to train as psychoanalysts had to study abroad, an opportunity only accessible to those who had the socio-economic status and means necessary. As a result, trainees often remained abroad. Overcoming significant systemic racial and economic obstacles, SAPA graduated its first “homegrown” psychoanalysts in 2016. Currently the organization has 23 analysts (15% black), 25 candidates (33% black), an unprecedented achievement of analyst diversity in Africa and around the world.

“The unprecedented quantity and quality of the applicants’ work made the judges’ assignment particularly challenging. We hope the winning work inspires others to consider how they too can expand their work to greater benefit humanity,“ says Barbara Sherland, J.D., co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust.

Formal presentation of both 2020 and 2019 Award winners is tentatively planned for July 2021 and dependent on COVID protocols in place then.  Applications for The Sigourney Award-2021 are accepted beginning March 2021 for work completed within the past 10 years. Applicants who do not win are welcome to enter again. Visit www.sigourneyaward.org for information.

About The Sigourney Award 
The Sigourney Trust, an independent nonprofit organization established by Mary Sigourney in 1989, bestows annually The Sigourney Award as international recognition and reward for outstanding work that advanced psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought. Ms. Sigourney was a psychotherapist, publisher, and community activist who had a passionate interest in psychoanalysis and understood its ability to benefit and extend human conversation across various disciplines. To date, 133 Award Recipients from 22 countries represent her global vision. The Sigourney Award recipients’ ground-breaking work has significantly contributed to human affairs on topics ranging from clinical psychoanalysis, neuroscience, feminism, and political oppression.
 

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Download Full Press Release - Latin American Release

Patricia Gherovici, PhD, Wins Sigourney Award 2020

Psychoanalyst Patricia Gherovici’s Work With Latinx And Nonconforming Gender People Earns The Sigourney Award-2020 Prize For Psychoanalytic Achievement

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Dr. Gherovici’s work in the US earns the independent prize recognizing contributions to advancing psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought alongside work from Mexico and South Africa.

Seattle, WA — January 13, 2020 – The Sigourney Award-2020 annually rewards top work that advanced the field of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought, and this year a distinguished panel of independent judges reviewed an unprecedented number of applications from 13 countries. Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust announces four winners for The Sigourney Award-2020, including the work of Patricia Gherovici, Ph.D.

Dr. Patricia Gherovici is a psychoanalyst who serves as Associated Faculty for the Psychoanalytic Studies Minor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder and director of the Philadelphia Lacan Group. Originally from Argentina, Dr. Gherovici’s work with marginalized communities began with Latinx and expanded to include gender and sexual variant people. Addressing the complexities of delivering mental health services to disenfranchised and/or impoverished communities, her work is at the forefront of a change within psychoanalysis. In a departure from traditional psychoanalysis, the new form of psychoanalytic practice she has been developing is oriented toward progressive social transformations for people segregated by “oppressive notions of normalcy.” Before most people within psychoanalysis were thinking about speaking about intersectionality, Dr. Gherovici was working to illuminate how race, trans and queer studies intersected problematically with psychoanalysis. Her work with trans and gender nonconforming analysands has contributed to the emerging new field “transpsychoanalytics.”

“Dr. Gherovici’s work supports Award founder Mary Sigourney’s goal of rewarding innovation in the field that advances psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought to benefit humanity,” says Dr. Myerson.

Her award-winning book The Puerto Rican Syndrome (2010) opened a more sustained conversation about psychoanalysis and community and directly inspired collective work such as the 2014 Symposium: Psychoanalysis in El Barrio at the New School for Social Research, as well as the PEP WEB documentary Psychoanalysis in El Barrio (2016) and her co-edited collection Psychoanalysis in the Barrios: Race, Class and the Unconscious (2019). She also authored Please Select Your Gender: From the Invention of Hysteria to the Democratizing of Transgenderism (2017). All of these works challenged the assumption that psychoanalysis is only effective for those who can afford it, directly referencing her work, which advocates for transcending barriers of money, class, gender, sexuality and race.

“I am honored to be selected as a winner of [The Sigourney Award-2020]. After years of listening to marginalized people who did not feel heard and pushing for their inclusion within psychoanalysis, I hope this award will lend visibility to the efficacy and emancipatory potential of psychoanalysis for Latinx and gender nonconforming communities.,” says Dr. Gherovici. “For a long time, I have been saying that psychoanalysis needs a sex-change. It also needs a social change. The recognition granted by this distinction proves that this change is happening. I would like to express my gratitude to the panel of judges and to The Sigourney Trust for their commitment to improving the world through psychoanalysis and for their support of my vision,” she adds.

The winning work of 2020 adds to a long list of innovative contributions advancing psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought that, since 1990, have been honored with The Sigourney Award. This year, three additional prizes were awarded to recognize work by Anton Oscar Kris, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a psychoanalyst, Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society, and past Executive Director of the Sigmund Freud Archives; Heli Rafael Morales Ascencio, Ph.D., founder of the Social Foundation of Psychoanalysis in Mexico City, Mexico and a founding member of three movements on psychoanalysis including the School of Psychoanalytic Letter, the Psychoanalysis Social, and The Lacanian Analytical Network; and the South African Psychoanalytical Association (SAPA), a nonprofit organization based in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.

“Our judges were incredibly impressed by the breadth of work submitted for consideration this year, and we’re proud of the ground-breaking contributions and exceptional advancements in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought that earned The Sigourney Award-2020,” says Barbara Sherland, J.D., co-trustee, The Sigourney Trust.

The Sigourney Award-2021 applications will be accepted online beginning March 2021. The Sigourney Award evaluates work completed within the recent 10 years, and applicants whose work does not win are welcome to enter again. The Sigourney Award includes a substantial cash prize. Visit www.sigourneyaward.org for information and stay updated via social platforms for The Sigourney Award on Facebook and LinkedIn @SigourneyAward.

About The Sigourney Award 
The Sigourney Trust, an independent nonprofit organization established by Mary Sigourney in 1989, bestows annually The Sigourney Award as international recognition and reward for outstanding work that advanced psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought. Ms. Sigourney was a psychotherapist, publisher, and community activist who had a passionate interest in psychoanalysis and understood its ability to benefit and extend human conversation across various disciplines. To date, 133 Award Recipients from 22 countries represent her global vision. The Sigourney Award recipients’ ground-breaking work has significantly contributed to human affairs on topics ranging from clinical psychoanalysis, neuroscience, feminism, and political oppression.

Download Full Press Release

Anton Oscar Kris, MD, Wins Sigourney Award 2020

Work By Harvard Professor Of Psychiatry Dr. Anton Oscar Kris Wins The Sigourney Award-2020 Prize For Psychoanalytic Achievement Worldwide

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Dr. Kris’ work guiding The Sigmund Freud Archives into the public domain wins The Sigourney Award-2020 alongside exceptional work from Mexico, South Africa and the USA.

Seattle, WA — January 13, 2020 – The Sigourney Award-2020 annually rewards exceptional work advancing the field of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought. A distinguished, independent panel of judges evaluated a record-breaking number of applications vying for The Sigourney Award’s international recognition and substantial cash prize. Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust, announces four 2020 Award recipients, including the work of Anton Oscar Kris, M.D., a Harvard psychiatry professor and psychoanalyst whose work guided The Sigmund Freud Archives to the public domain.

Anton Oscar Kris, M.D., is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a psychoanalyst, a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and a past Executive Director of The Sigmund Freud Archives, Inc. Dr. Kris’ work has helped to sustain and grow Freud’s theories in an age that has misunderstood and challenged Freud’s relevance, while at the same time providing leadership in a careful reconsideration of them. Where necessary, Dr. Kris led discourse which criticized and corrected Freud without any trace of idealization or devaluation through careful study of Freud’s source material and method, free association. As the Archives’ Executive Director, Dr. Kris’ work included raising funds and establishing the freedom from copyright for Freud’s holographs and bringing the Archives into the public domain, publishing them on the Library of Congress website. The digitization of the Archives has exponentially expanded readership; in the first six months, the new pages received 165,000 visits. Dr. Kris’ work balances a deep appreciation of psychoanalysis’ roots with a modern, humanistic approach to and adaptation of traditional Freudian concepts; the value of his efforts, already evident with multiple generations of analysts and psychotherapists, will continue to impact future generations.

“Dr. Kris’ work helped provide unprecedented visibility of Freud and psychoanalysis the value of which will be apparent to future generations of analysts, scholars, historians and the lay public all around the world,” says Dr. Myerson. “It will help with keeping psychoanalysis alive and adaptive,” he adds.

“I am grateful for this important recognition of my work,” says Dr. Kris.

The winning work of 2020 adds to a long list of innovative contributions advancing psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought that, since 1990, have been honored with The Sigourney Award. This year, three additional prizes were awarded to recognize work by Patricia Gherovici, Ph.D., a psychoanalyst and Associate Faculty for the Psychoanalytic Studies Minor at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-founder and director of the Philadelphia Lacan Group; Heli Rafael Morales Ascencio, Ph.D., founder of the Social Foundation of Psychoanalysis in Mexico City, Mexico and a founding member of three movements on psychoanalysis including the School of Psychoanalytic Letter, the Psychoanalysis Social, and The Lacanian Analytical Network; and the South African Psychoanalytical Association (SAPA), a nonprofit organization based in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.

“The exciting work being done today will inspire tomorrow’s generation of psychoanalysts,” says Barbara Sherland, J.D., co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust. “Our panel of independent judges were excited to learn through review of the submissions just how impressively the field has evolved over the years throughout the world,” she adds.

The Sigourney Award-2021 applications will be accepted online beginning March 2021. The Sigourney Award evaluates work completed within the recent 10 years, and applicants whose work does not win are welcome to enter again. Visit www.sigourneyaward.org for information and stay updated via social platforms for The Sigourney Award on Facebook and LinkedIn @SigourneyAward.

About The Sigourney Award 
The Sigourney Trust, an independent nonprofit organization established by Mary Sigourney in 1989, bestows annually The Sigourney Award as international recognition and reward for outstanding work that advanced psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought. Ms. Sigourney was a psychotherapist, publisher, and community activist who had a passionate interest in psychoanalysis and understood its ability to benefit and extend human conversation across various disciplines. To date, 133 Award Recipients from 22 countries represent her global vision. The Sigourney Award recipients’ ground-breaking work has significantly contributed to human affairs on topics ranging from clinical psychoanalysis, neuroscience, feminism, and political oppression.

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Helí Rafael Morales Ascencio, Ph.D, Wins The Sigourney Award 2020

Mexico City Psychoanalyst Helí Rafael Morales Ascencio Wins The Sigourney Award-2020 Prize For Psychoanalytic Achievement

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Dr. Morales’ pioneering work provides treatment for those who have previously had little or no access to psychoanalytic care in Mexico and is recognized alongside award-winning work from South Africa and the United States.

Seattle, WA — January 13, 2020 – The Sigourney Award-2020 rewards annually groundbreaking and innovative work that advanced the field of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought to benefit humankind. This year an unprecedented number of applicants vied for the Award’s international recognition and a substantial cash prize.

Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust announces four winners of The Sigourney Award-2020 including the work of Heli Rafael Morales Ascencio, Ph.D., founder of the Social Foundation of Psychoanalysis in Mexico City, where analysts are trained to care for victims of sexual violence and the relatives of over 177,000 missing women in Mexico.

“Dr. Morales’ expansive body of work in Mexico encompasses psychoanalysis, education, community activism, and social justice to provide care for victims of physical and sexual crimes, who have previously had little or no access to psychoanalytic care,” says Dr. Myerson. “This work exemplifies founder Mary Sigourney’s goal of rewarding work that advances psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought across many applications,” he adds.

Helí Rafael Morales Ascencio, Ph.D., founder of the Social Foundation of Psychoanalysis in Mexico City, Mexico, is also a founding member of two other psychoanalysis movements that include The Lacanian Analytical Network and the School of the Psychoanalytic Letter. The pioneering work of Dr. Morales addressed the lack of institutional psychoanalytic work aimed at low-income people in Mexico and illustrates how intersecting psychotherapy and activism can help survivors of violence and their families. He founded the Social Foundation of Psychoanalysis whose analysts provide care for victims of sexual violence and relatives of the 177,884 missing women in Mexico. One in three Mexican women are reportedly experiencing physical or sexual violence. The Foundation has established a new and rare relationship between the state and psychoanalysis helping to implement support for rape victims through the Attorneys' Office for Sexual Crimes in Mexico City.

"For me, being awarded this important award means an honor and a commitment. This motivates me and challenges me to continue working hard in the different fields of intervention involving psychoanalysis: conceptual, writing, editorial, research and radical clinic. The award will also allow us to continue to support, in various cities in Mexico, the Psychoanalytic Listening Clinics that receive low-income people and, one of the fundamental points of the social foundation's commitment to Psychoanalysis, to provide psychoanalytic listening to violent women and relatives of missing persons," Dr. Morales said.

Dr. Morales also authored Another History of Sexuality as well as seven other books, and presented Psychoanalysis with Art at the Prado Museum in Madrid and the Museum of Fine Arts in Mexico. He has also worked with other psychoanalysts to create a new training proposal for analysts carried out in different cities of Mexico and which includes three topologically linked dimensions: social ink of study, supervised clinical practice and personal analysis.

The winning work of 2020 adds to a long list of innovative contributions advancing psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought that, since 1990, have been honored with The Sigourney Award. This year, three additional prizes were awarded to recognize work by Patricia Gherovici, Ph.D., a psychoanalyst and Associate Faculty for the Psychoanalytic Studies Minor at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-founder and director of the Philadelphia Lacan Group; Anton Oscar Kris, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a psychoanalyst, a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and past Executive Director of the Sigmund Freud Archives; and the South African Psychoanalytical Association (SAPA), a nonprofit organization based in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.

“Today, psychoanalysis embraces a range of philosophies, modern clinical theories, social advocacy, culture, art, and research. The Sigourney Award honors the expansion and connection of psychoanalysis to many fields of study and experience through the independent Award,” says Barbara Sherland, J.D., co-trustee for The Sigourney Trust.

The Sigourney Award-2021 applications will be accepted online beginning March 2021. The Sigourney Award evaluates work completed within the recent 10 years, and applicants whose work does not win are welcome to enter again. The Sigourney Award includes a substantial cash prize. Visit www.sigourneyaward.org for information and stay updated via social platforms for The Sigourney Award on Facebook and LinkedIn @SigourneyAward.

About The Sigourney Award 
The Sigourney Trust, an independent nonprofit organization established by Mary Sigourney in 1989, bestows annually The Sigourney Award as international recognition and reward for outstanding work that advanced psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought. Ms. Sigourney was a psychotherapist, publisher, and community activist who had a passionate interest in psychoanalysis and understood its ability to benefit and extend human conversation across various disciplines. To date, 133 Award Recipients from 22 countries represent her global vision. The Sigourney Award recipients’ ground-breaking work has significantly contributed to human affairs on topics ranging from clinical psychoanalysis, neuroscience, feminism, and political oppression.

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South African Psychoanalytical Association (SAPA), Wins The Sigourney Award 2020

South African Psychoanalytical Association Wins The Sigourney Award-2020 For Work Enhancing Access To Psychoanalysis Across All Economic and Demographic Boundaries in South Africa

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SAPA’s work dramatically increased the reach of psychoanalytic thought and psychoanalysis for people with histories of apartheid, racism, and trauma in South Africa, and earns prestigious prize along with  award-winning work from Mexico and the United States.

Seattle, WA — January 13, 2020 – The Sigourney Award-2020 annually rewards innovative work that advanced the field of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought. A distinguished, independent panel of judges evaluated a record-breaking number of applications vying for The Sigourney Award’s international recognition and substantial cash prize. Today, William A. Myerson, Ph.D., MBA, and co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust, announces four 2020 Award recipients, including the work of the South African Psychoanalytical Association (SAPA) of Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.

“SAPA has made a significant impact on psychoanalytic perspectives in South Africa through its emphasis on race, racism, class, gender, and inequality,” says Dr. Myerson.

SAPA is a nonprofit organization that has dramatically increased the reach of psychoanalytic thought and psychoanalysis for people with histories of apartheid, racism, and trauma in South Africa. SAPA successfully established the first psychoanalytic society accredited by the International Psychoanalytical Association on the African continent and helped deconstruct racist barriers within psychoanalysis and psychoanalytical training. Through clinical, applied, and community work, SAPA has enhanced access to psychoanalysis across all economic and demographic boundaries for South Africa’s people.

SAPA was established as a Study Group of the IPA’s in 2009 and achieved Provisional Society status in 2017. Through clinical, applied, and community work, SAPA has enhanced access to psychoanalysis across all economic and demographic boundaries for South Africa’s people. Forging against long-held views that “psychoanalysis is a ‘Eurocentric’ theory, based in cultural and social conditions that bear very little resemblance to [African’s] own,” SAPA has begun to change this attitude towards psychotherapy and reduced barriers to cost that also limited access to treatment.

Following apartheid in 1948, South Africans who wanted to train as psychoanalysts had to study abroad an opportunity only accessible to those who had the socio-economic status and means necessary. A result was that trainees often remained abroad. Overcoming significant systemic racial and economic obstacles, SAPA graduated its first “homegrown” psychoanalysts in 2016. Currently the organization has 23 analysts (15% black), 25 candidates (33% black), an unprecedented achievement of analyst diversity in Africa and around the world.

“Being one of The Sigourney Award-2020 winners is a huge boost to our society, both financially and in terms of the important recognition of our work of enhancing diversity and inclusivity in the increased reach of psychoanalytic thought, education, training and treatment in Africa. We thank the jury for the honor bestowed on us,” says Elda Storck, SAPA president, accepting the Award on behalf of the organization.

The winning work of 2020 adds to a long list of innovative contributions advancing psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought that, since 1990, have been honored with The Sigourney Award. This year, three additional prizes were awarded to recognize work by Patricia Gherovici, Ph.D., a psychoanalyst and Associate Faculty for the Psychoanalytic Studies Minor at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-founder and director of the Philadelphia Lacan Group; Anton Oscar Kris, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a psychoanalysts, a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society, and past Executive Director of the Freud Archives; and Heli Rafael Morales Ascencio, Ph.D., founder of the Social Foundation of Psychoanalysis in Mexico City, Mexico and also a founding member of two other psychoanalysis movements that include The Lacanian Analytical Network  and the Psychoanalytic Letter Sculpture.

“We commend the contributions being made by SAPA as well as the others who have made 2020 a remarkable year to honor Mary Sigourney’s vision and mission for this independent award, and we congratulate the judges panel on their selections,” says Barbara Sherland, J.D., co-trustee, The Sigourney Trust.

The Sigourney Award-2021 applications will be accepted online beginning March 2021. The Sigourney Award evaluates work completed within the recent 10 years, and applicants whose work does not win are welcome to enter again. The Sigourney Award includes a substantial cash prize and award. Visit www.sigourneyaward.org for information and stay updated via social platforms for The Sigourney Award on Facebook and LinkedIn @SigourneyAward.

About The Sigourney Award 
The Sigourney Trust, an independent nonprofit organization established by Mary Sigourney in 1989, bestows annually The Sigourney Award as international recognition and reward for outstanding work that advanced psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought. Ms. Sigourney was a psychotherapist, publisher, and community activist who had a passionate interest in psychoanalysis and understood its ability to benefit and extend human conversation across various disciplines. To date, 133 Award Recipients from 22 countries represent her global vision. The Sigourney Award recipients’ ground-breaking work has significantly contributed to human affairs on topics ranging from clinical psychoanalysis, neuroscience, feminism, and political oppression.

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Sigourney Award Winner In The News

This #Italian podcast episode features Roosevelt Cassorla presenting part of his article on “Fanaticism as a phenomenon in the analytic field”, published in 2019 in the International Journal of Psychoanalyisis. He is a recipient of The Sigourney Award 2017 and you can read more about him on our site!

https://www.spiweb.it/cultura/podcast-talks-psychoanalysis/

Manifesto of Latin American Psychoanalysts (FEPAL)

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Manifesto dos Psicanalistas da América Latina (FEPAL)

MANIFESTO OF PSYCHOANALISTS IN LATIN AMERICA

Against Violence. Against Structural Racism and in Defense of Democracy and Human Rights. 

FEPAL thanks all colleagues who kindly participated, virtually, in the video Manifesto presented in this special Connection. Certainly, a connection of affections and ideas shared by many in our Latin America. 

We are especially grateful to everyone who gave us the images, whose artistic authorship touches us deeply. Our gratitude to João Roberto Ripper, photographer who also accompanies us, for his delicacy and unique talent with Human Images. In the end, the image that Ripper gave us to express what is most beautiful in humanity.  

María Cristina Fulco
President
Lúcia Palazzo
Publications Director
FEPAL Steering Committee

The Sigourney Award: Whose Work Could Win?

This is a clip from a video first published on Psychiatric Times. Watch the full version here.

“To date, 129 award recipients from 21 countries represent Ms. Sigourney’s global vision. The Sigourney Award recipients’ have submitted ground-breaking work which has significantly contributed to human affairs on topics ranging from neuroscience to feminism. Interested professionals can apply for the award at www.sigourneyaward.org.”

Press Release for The Sigourney Award 2019 Winners

Seattle, WA — July 9, 2020 – The Sigourney Trust has presented its highly prestigious Sigourney Award 2019 to four remarkable recipients in the international psychoanalytic community. While the formal spring 2020 presentation in Vienna was cancelled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the recipients are being personally congratulated and honored with a substantial cash prize and award for work completed.   

“We continue to be impressed by the quality of work being put forth by our international applicants and congratulate this year’s award recipients,” says Dr. William A. Myerson, PhD, MBA, co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust. “We are proud to maintain Mary Sigourney’s original intent to reward innovative work and hope this distinctive acknowledgement continues to inspire those embracing psychoanalysis – both seasoned and emerging in experience – to apply from around the world for reward and recognition,” he adds. 

The 2019 winners join a long list of the world’s top talent who, since 1990, have been honored with The Sigourney Award. The Award honors recipients’ recent past work, not future work, as judges look for a substantial body of outstanding work during the last ten years. A nominee's accomplishments should be insightful or ground-breaking, advance the understanding or evolution of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought, and advance the public good.  

Recipients of The Sigourney Award - 2019: 

Dr. Rodolfo Moguillansky's work has played a pivotal role in developing and expanding psychoanalysis in Argentina and throughout Latin America. While serving as rector of the Instituto Universitario De Salud Mental de APdeBA (IUSAM), Dr. Moguillansky helped lead efforts to attain full academic accreditation for the university’s psychoanalytic training program. Built on the International Psychoanalytic Association’s tripartite training model, the University’s fully accredited program has helped solidify psychoanalysis’ position as a legitimate area of study in Latin America and has attracted students from across South America.  

A not-for-profit charitable organization based in Germany, Partners in Confronting Collective Atrocities (PCCA) is unique in its location of pain and guilt within the group, rather than in the individual. While PCCA is a community-based psychoanalytic and social welfare enterprise led by psychanalysts from various countries, it also attracts and recruits many non-analysts. PCCA seeks to positively impact the residual effects of trauma and atrocities on individuals, communities, and national groups. PCCA represents the extension and application of psychoanalysis to the sphere of social reality and offers a fruitful way of dealing with large scale trauma, beginning with the Holocaust and extending to other atrocities, victims, and perpetrators.  

Work by Siri Gullestad, PhD, has profoundly impacted the evolution and acceptance of psychoanalysis as a scientific discipline in Norway.  A researcher, theoretician, educator and a powerful public voice, Gullestad developed a highly innovative psychoanalytic theory that was applied to both university training and clinical treatment. A well-respected spokesperson for psychoanalysis, she is skillful at communicating the relevance of unconscious conflict and fantasy to the general public.   

Dr. Henri Parens’ innovative research work in the United States has focused on a psychoanalytic approach to the understanding and treatment of aggression. Working with caregiver/children dyads, Dr. Parens and his colleagues documented their hypothesis that caregivers could be taught optimal ways to handle the emergence of aggression in children and this approach could improve the children’s lives. Dr. Parens and his colleagues used real life moments to help teach parents and caregivers how to respond in ways that would enhance their children’s emotional development.  Focusing on the caregiver’s role in shaping the child’s capacity to manage their own aggression and teaching care givers new ways of responding at moments of real urgency between caregiver and child, Dr. Parens is able to teach new and alternative ways to handle aggression.   

“The work of these award recipients represents Mary Sigourney’s vision of how psychoanalysis can serve humanity worldwide,” said Dr. Myerson. “Today, psychoanalysis embraces a range of philosophies, modern clinical theories, social advocacy, culture, art, and research. The Sigourney Trust honors the expansion and connection of psychoanalysis to many fields of study and experience through The Sigourney Award,” he added.  

Applications for The Sigourney Award 2020 are being accepted through Sept. 15, 2020. Visit www.sigourneyaward.org for information and find The Sigourney Award on social platforms including Facebook and LinkedIn @SigourneyAward. 

About The Sigourney Award  

Established by Mary Sigourney in 1989, The Sigourney Award offers independent, international recognition and a substantial cash prize for outstanding work that advances psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought. Ms. Sigourney was a psychotherapist, publisher, and community activist who had a passionate interest in psychoanalysis and understood its ability to benefit and extend human conversation across various disciplines. To date, 129 Award Recipients from 21 countries represent her global vision. The Sigourney Award recipients’ ground-breaking work has significantly contributed to human affairs on topics ranging from neuroscience to feminism. 

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