Interview with Meg Beaudoin, PhD, FIPA
By Caron Harrang, LICSW, FIPA
April 2011
The CIPS Book Series was founded in 2008 by a small group of industrious CIPS analysts who, inspired by an idea first articulated by Norbert Freedman, thought the confederation should have its own publication outlet and footprint. The board appointed, then, CIPS treasurer Meg Beaudoin to chair the Book Series committee and shepherd the project forward from imagination to realization. As is often the case when ideas take flight, the behind-the-scenes work of those who bring the project to fruition stays on the “cutting room floor” known to only a few. For this reason, I was interested in delving into the book series back story and learning more about the woman who managed to secure a contract with preeminent psychoanalytic publishing house Karnac Books.
The following is the first in what the News Brief anticipates will be a series of interviews with editors and authors involved with the book series. I hope you enjoy getting to know Meg as much as I did.
Caron Harrang: Who originated the idea of a Book Series for CIPS and how did you become involved in the project?
Meg Beaudoin: The idea for CIPS to become involved in publishing originally came from Norbert Freedman. He suggested this to Rick Perlman who was CIPS president at that time. After discussion with the executive board, I was asked to lead the project. I assembled a committee to discuss the form that the series might take. The committee was made up of myself as chair, Chris Christian, Phyllis Sloate, Terry McBride, Steve Ellman, and Leigh Tobias. We decided on a structure and theme, elicited proposals and then began the long search for a publisher.
CH: The “long search for a publisher” sounds like you’re describing quite an arduous process. What was the structure and theme the founding committee agreed upon and what happened after that before you were finally able to come to an agreement with Karnac?
MB: We wanted the structure and the theme to reflect the nature of CIPS. Our societies are, of course, psychoanalytic IPA societies, but also represent a wide spectrum of psychoanalytic perspectives as well as a diversity of academic backgrounds. We wanted to make use of our pluralism to create a series that would involve a dialogue among these various points of view. For example, we conceived of volumes that might take a particular psychoanalytic concept, incorporate a number of disparate approaches to that concept across societies and discuss how these various points of view were all psychoanalytic. We wanted a structure that would represent the intellectual activity of our community. We decided on an overarching theme that would involve an examination of the interactions between various psychoanalytic perspectives and an examination of the interactions between psychoanalysis and other disciplines, “The Boundaries of Psychoanalysis”. It took a number of years to find a home for our series. We were very pleased that Karnac Books, a well respected publisher of psychoanalytic books, wanted to publish our series. The managing director at Karnac, Oliver Rathbone, was very enthusiastic about our project.
CH: I’m impressed with the depth of thinking that went into the project and the respect for difference or, as you say, “pluralism” in the analytic community, inside and outside of CIPS. It seems like the background question—which I think is a good one—is, “What is psychoanalysis, and what is it not?” as it continues to evolve into its second century. So far as you know, has this kind of synthesis and comparative analysis been attempted by other psychoanalytic groups in Europe, North America or South America? Or, is this the first psychoanalytic book series of its kind, that you know of?
MB: CIPS is a unique organization and as far as I know our book series is also unique. I am also so very pleased by the high quality of the series.
CH: Yes, quite something you helped launch. I note that the first book in the series,When Theories Touch: A Historical and Theoretical Integration of Psychoanalytic Thought, is by a single author, Steve Ellman, who was on the founding committee and also the first president of CIPS. His book is an overview of the major psychoanalytic theorists beginning with Freud. Then, the second book presents a vision of contemporary Freudian psychoanalysis. These books address material that is often covered in psychoanalytic training programs. Was it hoped that these books might be used as texts for candidates or as additions to the libraries of seasoned working analysts, or both? I’m wondering who the imagined audiences were for the series or for individual volumes? And, whether this was left to the discretion of the authors or did the committee provide input on the target audience?
MB: Actually, the audience for the series as we conceived it was the psychoanalytic community at large. We didn’t think of the books as training volumes. In fact, the books you mention address some of the most important and profound questions in contemporary psychoanalysis; for example, the relationship between drive theory and object relations theory, the nature of contemporary Freudian theory and how it integrates post-Freudian thought, and so on. So they are important books for candidates and experienced analysts as well as for members of other disciplines concerned with psychoanalytic matters.
CH: Interesting. Well, I guess I’m saying that I think the first two volumes might be very useful for candidates—maybe later in their training—as part of studying Freud’s theories and how they have taken shape in the minds of others over the last hundred years; particularly in an institute like NPS, that is, generally, object relations oriented. Or, valuable for candidates in an institute that focuses in its program of study on North American ego psychology or post-Freudian thought and might not be encouraged to read primary source material from Klein, Bion, Joseph, Meltzer, Britton, and others identified with the British object relations school. Certainly, it would be wonderful if the faculty at CIPS institutes were familiar with these volumes.
I haven’t yet asked you about your background in terms of writing and editing as it relates to your interest in chairing the book series committee. In addition to your clinical education and training, did you come to the project with a writing background? That is, I’m wondering if you, like others, such as Christopher Bollas and Thomas Ogden, might have come to the field of psychoanalysis with an educational base in creative writing, literature, or journalism. Or, are you just one of those who see a need and likes a challenge?
MB: No, I don’t have a literature background. I do have a very strong theoretical bent, having done graduate work in philosophy before coming to clinical psychology. I had never done any editing on this scale before and yet when I was asked to do this I felt that I would be able to do it well. I believed that I was being asked to create something that could be of great value to our field, and that was certainly enough to engage me wholeheartedly.
CH: Yes, I think engaging with what sparks one’s passion is such an important aspect of creativity in any field. And sometimes it is a matter of being drawn to something intuitively—like saying you felt you’d be able to do the editing work well—a priori, so to speak. I think this is often the case in terms of becoming a psychoanalyst; that one finds one’s way to it unconsciously. Then it can take a lifetime to understand all of the influences or “reasons” that shape the choices we make. I think your mention of philosophy had the effect of widening the aperture of my thinking just now.
Before we conclude, I’d like to ask you where you did your analytic training and what authors, in philosophy or psychoanalysis, have had the greatest influence on your identity as a psychoanalyst.
MB: I began my psychoanalytic training at NYU Postdoc. And then took a leave as I had two children. When I returned, I returned to IPTAR, which is where I have been ever since. IPTAR is a wonderful place, alive with all sorts of very smart and very impassioned analysts. As I am a Freudian analyst with considerable British object relations influence, IPTAR has been just the right home for me. I had actually been quite lucky in my choice of graduate training as well. I studied philosophy at Northwestern University at the time when it was the most serious program in continental philosophy in the country. Then later, I studied clinical psychology at City College at a time when it was the site of Anni Bergman’s work with psychotic children. And at City I was able to do a theoretical dissertation that allowed me to bridge philosophy and psychoanalysis. But you asked me what authors have had the greatest influence on me as a psychoanalyst. Actually the list is long but I will try to boil it down. In philosophy, my greatest influences have been G.W.F. Hegel, Edmund Husserl, Paul Ricoeur and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud of course, and also Hans Loewald and Donald Winnicott. But truly, there have been so many others, some of whom bridge phenomenology and psychology and are considerably less well known. I love to read authors who make me think; who get me to ask questions and think creatively. Rene Spitz is wonderful in that way as is Erik Erikson. I am considerably less interested in reading authors whose theories seem reified; codifications to memorize, if you will. Ideas too can be alive or dead.
CH: I agree with what you are saying about “alive or dead” ideas and it reminds me of what I understand was Bion’s intention to write in such a way as to evoke an emotional experience for the reader, rather than simply describing clinical phenomena or its theoretical counterpart. And speaking of lively ideas, I certainly have found this conversation with you to be informative and enlivening. I didn’t know much about how the CIPS Book Series got going and this was part of what prompted me to suggest this interview. So, I want to thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with me and agreeing to let us publish our conversation in the News Brief.
Is there anything else you’d like to comment on that I haven’t touched on about the Book Series or your role in bringing it to fruition?
MB: Just that the series is very much alive and we are always open to new proposals. By May we will have published four volumes and there are already four more volumes that will be published over the next two years. If any of our members have an idea for an authored or edited volume that falls within the parameters of our theme, I hope they will consider submitting a proposal. We are particularly interested in volumes with an interdisciplinary focus. For information about submitting a proposal a member can contact bookserieseditor@cipsusa.org. We also have a mechanism in place for CIPS members that are interested in pursuing a topic for development into a proposal and would be interested in finding other members with similar interests. Members interested in this can contactbookseriesoutreach@cipsusa.org.
