In September 2021, VPSG voted to re-join CIPS after a thoughtful process of reflection about VPSG’s current interests and direction, and the benefits of formally reuniting with other Independent Societies while we are still a study group. I thank Maureen Murphy for coming to/zooming into our Member’s Meeting, answering questions while also conveying CIPS activities and importance within the analytic community. And now I write this letter for the CIPS newsletter, introducing or reintroducing VPSG to our fellow organizations.

VPSG was founded by four IPA-trained analysts: William Butler, Sharon Dennett, Douglas Dennett and Mina Levinsky-Wohl, all who trained at the Quebec-English Institute of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society of the IPA. This group of four had been offering psychoanalytic seminars (since 2005) to local clinicians, and the growing interest in local psychoanalytic training became clear. After much work, this group of 4 were given approval in 2009 to create an IPA-approved training program and the first class was admitted in 2011. This was the first and remains the only IPA-approved training program in Vermont. 

The first – and as yet the only – training class began in January 2012 with 6 candidates, all who have graduated and are IPA members.  Much can be said about the originality and strength of the tripartite training. I confess to being biased as one of the 6 candidates, and fondly remember presenting a case to Stephano Bolignini (IPA President at the time) who came to VT through the CAPSA program, and his discussing the 4th leg of training to consider: that of groups.  He also presented a paper to our Society and wider Vermont community.  Other highlights and unique offerings of our Training Institute included five senior adjunct supervisors from Quebec and Boston, visiting analyst lectures and original paper presentations, semester two-page writing presentations by each candidate to foster analytic thought and discourse – all anchored by a personal analysis, solid teaching curriculum, and analytic clinical case requirements. 

These are some of VPSG highlights and history: The Society began with the minimum of 10 members, meaning that the unwavering and demanding work of training rested on the shoulders of a few. We had a decline in membership for assorted reasons, and this left a mark on our small organization which we have been and will continue to be committed to working through. Unrelated to that, but present for all of us, is the pandemic and its demands on all our psyches, our ways of practicing, etc. But through and from all of this, I am happy to note that our Society is now growing again (13 members at this point, including our 6 graduates), and we have re-focused our efforts and are determining our next steps.

Always on our mind is moving from our Study Group status to becoming a Provisional Society. Offering training to a second group of candidates would be part of this journey, and our group is now discussing the will and energy needed, along with the practical steps to move forward. Our Sponsoring Committee members, Phyllis Hopkins and newly appointed Lyn Yonack, are bringing further thought and clarification to this process. It is both an exciting time and a time of renewal at VPSG. We restarted monthly Scientific Meetings in March 2021 for our Members with guest speakers (see our web page for analytic speakers since our inception) bringing forth interesting topics – and discussions being the thrust of the evening. Five of our Members shared short writings in our two-page paper format that have also spurred further connection with one another, and appreciation of the unique voices that our Members bring. And in October 2021, VPSG offered a Zoom soirée with guest speaker Salman Akhtar speaking on silence, and on poetry. I think our re-joining CIPS is part of this renewal process for us as we reaffirm our connections with our sibling independent IPA Societies in the United States.

Betsy Sprague, PsyD, FIPA

President, VPSG