About - Vermont Association for Psychoanalytic Studies

History

The Vermont Association for Psychoanalytic Studies (VAPS) has a long and storied history. VAPS first grew from the weekly case discussions between Rudolph Moz and Mark Adair–two psychoanalysts located in Montpelier–that began in 1983. Robert Barasch, a clinical psychologist, joined the duo, and the three soon set their sights on founding a local chapter of Division 39. This effort was imperiled when Moz relocated to Seattle. However, by 1985 the group had grown to five members and an application to establish a local chapter of Division 39 was formally approved–VAPS had been founded.

For its first two years, VAPS remained in a primordial state with little organized activity. This changed in 1987 when Carole Betts, a Canadian psychoanalyst, joined the group and lent her experience and efforts towards developing VAPS into a formal organization. This included writing bylaws and planning the inaugural scientific meeting with the help of David Fassler. Betts and Barasch continued to organize the scientific meetings in following years. These early scientific meetings entailed inviting guest speakers and discussants– mainly analysts from Montreal who offered their time to give the nascent VAPS a boost.

Adair, Moz, Betts, and Barasch are considered the founders of VAPS on account of their early contributions, according to an article written about the organization by Adair in 1994. (Adair, Summer 1994 issue of Psychologist Psychoanalyst, Vol XIX, No. 3). (Moz returned to Vermont and VAPS during these early years.)

The organization picked up steam in the following five years. The membership had grown to about 40 by 1999 and events were attended by more than double that number. At this point, some members believed that the group’s informal organizational tendencies were incompatible with the reality that VAPS was now a large organization and an official Division 39 chapter—both of which required formal rules and representative governance. Previously, there was a verbal ratification rather than an election for president and in this way Adair was reestablished as president yearly. At the 1999 annual business meeting, there was a successful effort to create and immediately put into practice a nomination and voting process for president. Thus, the first VAPS election occurred at that meeting.

Adair nominated Carol Betts, who had been his close collaborator since the 80s and thus likely offered continuity with Adair in most member’s minds. Polly Young-Eisendrath and others nominated Sharon Dennett, who promoted actively moving VAPS towards broader representation and more formal structure. Previously, few members had attended the annual business meetings but in connection with the efforts related to insisting on an election process, there was a high turnout. Dennett won the election and VAPS was set on a new trajectory.

Adair, Betts, and others who were apparently caught off guard and upset by the change in leadership subsequently left the group. The election was sometimes referred to as “the coup”--a word that reflects both the notion of a sudden and dramatic change of leadership and that it was upsetting to those members who felt disenfranchised. Whatever negative feelings and perceptions there were, the legitimacy of the election was never questioned.

In the following years, much work was done to develop VAPS into the organization it is today. Under the dedicated efforts of Doug Dennet, bylaws were extensively expanded to establish the executive committee, officers, and rule-based procedures for making decisions along with other improvements. A newsletter was established. A program for continuing education was formalized. By 2005, the membership had increased to 95. Since the first election, a new president has been elected every two years and VAPS leadership structure has continued to serve the organization well.

For a discussion about the 1999 election and the changes that followed, a 25-year retrospective with Sharon Dennett, Melvin Miller, Polly Young-Eisendrath, and Douglass Dennett was recorded in 2024.

Download 25-Year Retrospective on the 1999 VAPS Election

Watch 25-Year Retrospective on the 1999 VAPS Election on YouTube

VAPS history from 2007 and onwards is well preserved in the online archive of newsletters.

This history was written by Jacob Rusczek in 2024 as a research committee project. It was based on discussions with Sharon Dennett, Douglass Dennett, Melvin Miller, Polly Young-Eisendrath, and others along with the histories written by Sharon Dennett and Mark Adair.

Past Histories

A Brief History of the Vermont Chapter Adair 1994

VAPS History by Sharon Dennett 2005

Bylaws

VAPS Bylaws 2025

Presidents

1987 – 1998: Mark Adair
1999 – 2000: Sharon Dennett
2001 – 2002: Mel Miller
2003 – 2004: Polly Young-Eisendrath
2005 – 2006: Doug Dennett
2007 – 2008: Mina Levinsky-Wohl
2009 – 2010: Debra Lopez
2011 – 2012: M. Brooke Barss
2013 – 2014: Betsy Sprague
2015 – 2016: Jean Pieniadz
2017 – 2018: Gerri Oppedisano
2019 – 2020: Devon Jersild
2021 – 2022: Barbara Richmond
2023 – 2024: Stella Marrie

Scientific Meetings

“A Brief History of the Vermont Chapter” By Mark Adair, published in 1994 before the 1994 meeting (and mentioning it as upcoming) states that VAPS has held five scientific meetings. This would appear to cover the documented meetings of 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993. Yet the literature for the 1989 meeting describes it as the 2^nd annual scientific meeting. There was apparently an earlier scientific meeting that likely didn’t have an invited speaker.

1987 First scientific meeting that likely consisted of presentations by either members or analysts visiting from Montreal. The event is mentioned in the history written by Mark Adair (Summer 1994 issue of Psychologist Psychoanalyst, Vol XIX, No. 3). It is stated that planning began in spring of 1987 but doesn’t mention that date, guests, or content of the meeting.
1989 Marion Pritchard “The Analysis of Evil”
1990 Rhoda Cohen “Creativity: A Psychoanalytic Perspective”
1991 Edgar Levenson “Back to the Future” (Discussed “the subtle retreat from the interpersonal in psychoanalysis”)
1992 Austin Lee “Victims of Self-Abuse: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Masochism”
1993 Robert Dufrense, “Listening to Narcissus: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Narcissism”
1994 Morton Reiser, “Memory: Its Place in Psychoanalytic Treatment and Therapy”
1995 Jay Greenberg, “Object Relations: An Interactive Model of Psychoanalytic Process”
1996 James Hornig “What’s Wrong with our Environment This Month?” and Mark Adair “The Rise of Psychoanalysis and it’s Ecological Role”
1997 Arnold Modell, “The Affective Organization of Memory: Clinical Implications”
1998 Vann Spruiell “Integrating Ambiguity and Change in Psychoanalysis”
1999 Jill Savage Scharff, “Tensions in Psychoanalytic Thinking and Promise for the Future”
2000 George Valliant “Therapeutic Wisdom: Understanding Adaptation in Development”
2001 Leston Havens, “The Spontaneous Moment: Moving Away from Explanation in Analytic Therapy”
2002 Jessica Benjamin, “The Third’s the Thing”
2003 Glen Gabbard, “Erotic Feelings in Therapy: Uses & Abuses”
2004 Nancy Chodorow, “Uncertainty in This Analytic Moment”
2005 Christopher Bollas, “Conversations with the Unconscious”
2006 Theodore Jacobs, “Challenges in Psychoanalysis: Approaching the Unapproachable”
2007 Haydee Faimberg, “Analytic Listening: Listening to the Links Between Generations”
2008 Donnel Stern, “Partners in Thought: A Clinical Process Theory of Narrative”
2009 David Scharff, “The Interpersonal Unconscious”
2010 Michael Parsons, “On Being Alive as an Analyst and as a Person”
2011 Joyce Slochower, “Idealizations and their Underbelly: Some Thoughts on Analytic Process and Therapeutic Outcome”
2012 Ronald Britton, “Subjectivity, Objectivity and Triangular Space” and “Narcissism: Defense or Attack, Libidinal or Destructive Narcissism.”
2013 Dominque Scarfone, “The ‘Actual’ in Psychoanalysis”
2014 Adrienne Harris, “Self-Care, Omnipotence, and Analytic Subjectivity: The Delights and Perils of Working in States of Uncertainty.”
2015 Sherry Salman, “The Play’s the Thing: Purpose, Pattern, and Process in Jungian Dream Interpretation”
2016 Cancelled. Would have been, Marilia Aisenstein, “Beyond the Dualism of Psyche and Soma.”
2017 Abbott Bronstein, “A Day with Dr. Abbot Bronstein” (including papers“Grievance and Change: Searching for the Perfect Ending” and “How and What Analysts Do as Interpretation in Psychoanalysis: Further Findings From the Comparative Clinical Methods Working Party Research Project.”
2018 Galit Atlas, “Has Sexuality Anything to do with Relationality?”
2019 Melvin Levine, “From the Dead Mother to a Living Discourse: Transformations in the Work of Andre Green”
2020 Norka Malberg, “Through the child analytic lens: Applications of attachment theory to psychoanalytic practice” Preconference: Norka Malberg and Mark Dangerfield, “Introduction to mentalization”
2021 Nancy McWilliams, “On Clinical Supervision and Consultation: Psychological ‘Vital Signs’ and Individuality in Supervisory Relationships” Pre-conference, Nancy McWilliams and Michael Garrett “Helping Patients with Paranoid Dynamics, Including Paranoid Psychoses”
2022 Cancelled. Would have been Malcolm Slavin, “Grieving Existential Trauma in Development and Psychoanalysis.”
2023 Danielle Knafo “Eros in the Age of Advanced Technology.” Pre-Conference: “Solitude in the Creative Process and In Analysis”
2024 Joyce Slochower “Looking Beyond the Manifest: Revisiting What We Theorize and What We Do.” Pre-Conference: “Relational Engagement and its Underbelly: A relational analyst looks at both sides”