For those who might be able to attend... ACADEMY CONFERENCE On Saturday, May 10th, 2003, the Academy will be sponsoring a conference at Madonna University. Patrick B. Kavanaugh, Ph.D. will present a paper entitled: The Dead Poets Society Ventures Into a Radioactive Analytic Space In pre-literate societies, the poet is the one assigned by the culture to be The One Who Remembers as an historian, mythmaker, and shaman. As shaman, the poet sees with eyes of fire that burn through the ordinariness of the world and perceive the wonders and terrors that lie beyond. Is the analytic practitioner not the one in our culture who bears the sacred responsibility to be The One Who Remembers in words in the analytic space? Is (s)he not a mind poet who speaks to the unworded poetry expressed in the overarching rhythms and patterns of everyday life? Do we see the world, people, and life through the poet’s eyes of fire?… The Academy for the Study of the Psychoanalytic Arts is dedicated to respecting and celebrating the poetic nature of psychoanalysis. This psychoanalysis, as defined by the Academy, flourishes best when it exists outside of a medical model with its pre-conceived notions of pathology, symptom, etiology and supposed “cure.” It is a psychoanalysis whose delicacy and wonder cannot be anticipated with formulaic treatment plans, whose whispers cannot be heard amidst broadcasted conversations with third party insurers and managed care administrators, and whose rhythms and lyrics cannot possibly arise within pre-formulated, prescribed, and preformatted “standards of care and practice.” These are private places, where the murmurings of one’s soul can be received by an ‘other’ with open mind and open heart, and the opportunity exists to discover the hidden meanings of an individual’s lyrical engagement with the world. In such places, an individual’s life story, no matter how painful, is not distilled into categorical straightjackets of diagnosis and pathology. Here, one’s customary ways of experiencing and engaging with the world with one’s body and mind, are appreciated as everyday, yet meaning filled symbolic and communicative expressions, rather than illness derived “symptoms” to be obliterated with psychopharmacology or “goal directed” talking treatment. This conference is an invitation to hear about an experience where raw human poetry came alive in the consulting room – spilling out beyond the boundaried confines of a ‘poem’ as it might be printed in a written anthology. It is an opportunity for us to listen to how two individuals found words together for the previously unspeakable, beckoning utterances of the soul. It is a chance for all of us who care about psychoanalysis to speak outside the margins and to witness the magic that can exist therein. We encourage Academy members, their guests, and all interested members of the community to attend. For further information about the conference click the following link: <A HREF="http://www.academyprojects.org/programs"> www.academyprojects.org/programs/</A>