COVID-19 Updates
September 6, 2021
Message from APsaA - Bill Glover
Dear Colleagues,
On this Labor Day we are 18 months into the most serious global health crisis in our lifetimes with no end in sight. We can be proud of how APsaA is helping meet the challenge to public mental health as we adapt to life and practice during COVID. The DPE and APsaA institutes carry on our educational mission and our organizational life goes on but strain of the pandemic wears on all of us and we must guard against the denial, fatigue, and fatalism that continue to mar our nation's response to the pandemic.
The COVID-19 Advisory Team continues to provide resources to help us. Please visit apsa.org/coronavirus. Two recent offerings are:
COVID-19's Back-to-School Fears and Questions: Year Two on Psychoanalysis Unplugged.
The APsaA Roundtable: To Open or Not to Open? on the APsaA YouTube Channel.
The 110th Annual Meeting September 17-19 features programs addressing the pandemic.
The 24th APsaA COVID Town Hall on ZOOM will meet Sunday, September 26 at 7 pm ET. Please look for the invitation and join us.
Please stay safe and engaged,
Bill Glover
William C. Glover, PhD, FIPA
President, American Psychoanalytic Association
510-524-4248
williamcglover@gmail.com
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November 10, 2021
The Data Are In: Telehealth Is Here to Stay
For many psychoanalysts, the future will remain digital.
May 19, 2020
Please click on the link below to read about COVID-19
April 23, 2020
ACP: BBC News: Why constant video chats are so exhausting
Why constant video chats are so exhausting
March 30, 2020
Dear CFPS members,
Since the beginning of this pandemic, the board of directors of the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies-Texas has been following the most up to date CDC coronavirus guidelines. We recognize that this situation continues to evolve on a daily or even hourly basis. We will continue to stay abreast of the most current recommendations and guidelines and will notify you of any changes to the operation of the center.
In following guidelines, please remember all classes, colloquia, applicant interviews, and board & committee meetings will only be available via zoom, and not in person. The administrative office remains closed, but all administrative staff are working remotely and available for your assistance.
As a member of the American Psychoanalytic Association, CFPS would like to invite you to review the following message and video from the APsaA and the organization's President Bill Glover.
While each day we move forward through this pandemic, know our thoughts of good health and safety remain with you and your families.
Sincerely,
CFPS Board of Directors
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APsaA President’s COVID-19 Message
See link to video message here - President Bill Glover's Message
We are in the midst of a global pandemic, mobilizing to meet the crisis, rearranging our lives and practices. All of us are in some form of isolation or quarantine but ‘social distancing’ is a misnomer, it’s really physical distancing as we strive to maintain our social bonds and clinical practices via telephone and digital technology. We may not be able to touch physically, but we can emotionally hold each other and our patients.
Our institutions are mobilizing too, moving their educational and other functions on-line. Staff are rallying to the challenge, particularly at APsaA in New York, one of the epicenters of the pandemic, where staff are working heroically from home under the leadership of Tom Newman, our Executive Director, to meet the crisis.
We are providing a variety of resources for our members, associates and the wider psychoanalytic community - psychotherapists, students, academics and all who value analytic thinking and treatment. Click here for more information and see below for what’s coming up next.
APsaA, its institutes and other organizations are providing technical information and instruction on the digital migration of practice. We’re realizing what’s needed right now are ‘good enough’ practices, better ones will develop as we learn.
Even more than technical help we need to provide emotional support and spaces for reflection and analytic thinking over the long haul of this pandemic. Negative capability is essential in the great uncertainty we face. Many institutions are providing community meetings and other forums. I encourage you to join.
We have more in common than anything that divides us. Let us know what you need and what we can do. Finally, let’s stay connected. Together we will get through this.
Bill Glover, PhD
President, American Psychoanalytic Association
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Look for detailed announcements with registration info very soon.
The events are free and open to all analytic clinicians.
Emergency Conversion to Tele-treatment: Making It Work
Pre-recorded video presentation available soon.
Adapting to a rapid, forced conversion to an all telehealth practice presents daunting and at times seemingly overwhelming challenges. This 2-hour video-recorded presentation tries to make this unexpected change a bit easier. Building on what we know about how the similarities and differences between being in person and on screen or phone influence and change basic clinical processes, a clinical sensibility of making it work is described. Concepts and strategies that can help in these trying times are presented.
Presenter: Todd Essig, PhD; Co-chair, APsaA COVID-19 Advisory Team.
Primer for Online Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis
On-line 4 session course, Thursday 4/2 - Sunday 4/5. Recorded for future access.
Beginning this Thursday evening and continuing through the weekend, APsaA offers a COVID Primer – a mini-course on getting online in our time of COVID 19. You may attend one or all sessions. The course will cover introductory considerations in transitioning to online and telephone therapy and analysis; practical, ethical and psychodynamic matters; psychoanalytic understanding of the mass community crisis during the COVID Pandemic; and practical and psychodynamic aspects of online teaching and supervision. There will be ample time for audience discussion and sharing experiences.
Faculty: David Scharff, M.D., Course Chair, Co-chair, APsaA COVID-19 Advisory Team; Sharon Blum, PhD; Lena Ehrlich, PsyD; Ralph Fishkin, D.O.; Jill Scharff, M.D.; Jeff Taxman, M.D.
APsaA’s 2nd COVID-19 Town Hall Sunday, April 5th, at 4-5 pm EDT. Adriana Prengler, the Vice-President Elect of the IPA will join us for discussion and sharing of experiences and reflections.
Hosted by Bill Glover and Kerry Sulkowicz, President and President-elect.
COVID-19 mailing list
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March 13, 2020
Dear All CFPS,
As our local communities continue to feel the increased impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the Board of CFPS feels it is important to share with you what we are doing to help keep faculty, candidates, trainees, and staff safe and healthy during this uncertain time while continuing to carry out psychoanalytic training within our organization.
Effective Monday, March 16th and continuing until further notice, the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies - Texas will go to full zoom classrooms. Please know our decision to close on-site activity was not made lightly and came following the announcements of school closures, cancellation of public event gatherings and declarations of Public Health Emergency at federal, state and local levels.
In addition, this will include the following:
All Board & Committee meetings
Alumni Round Table
Advanced Study Group
Colloquia
Applicant Interviews
As we deal with this pandemic and its effects within our own practices, be mindful of HIPPA compliant online platforms (VSee.com, zoom.us, Doxy.me) for seeing patients who need us more than ever during this difficult time. We suggest that you research the options and consult with your licensing board for telehealth guidelines and approval.
We will continue to monitor the situation daily, make adjustments and provide updates as needed. Please stay aware and healthy.
Best,
CFPS Board of Directors
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Virtual Meeting Etiquette
In lieu of the changes to move all meetings/sessions to virtual meetings we are sending the following reminders regarding virtual meeting etiquette and computer requirements.
Confidential Clinical Information
Our Zoom meetings are not recordable and only participants invited to the meetings can participate. When discussing cases, please keep confidentiality in mind by disguising the identity of patients and change the details of the case so the patient is not recognizable.
Prepare for the Virtual Meeting
Ensure your technology works correctly.
Ensure you meet the minimum computer requirements (see Zoom section below)
Wear work-appropriate clothing.
Frame the camera correctly.
Have the right light.
Audio Check before the virtual meeting begins to ensure that everyone can hear you.
Ensure a quiet space (other people and pets are a distraction).
During the Virtual Meeting
Mute yourself when not speaking.
Speak clearly - Know your material - uncertainty will cause you to mumble. Speak naturally but slowly. Clear pronunciation of each word is important.
Don't shout - Avoid screaming. If someone can't hear you, then adjust the level on the microphone and make sure it's not covered by your clothing or something else. Yelling will cause viewers to turn down their volume and potentially miss what you have to say.
Keep body movements minimal - If you're someone that talks with your hands, practice keeping them put. Hand movements can distract your audience. Also, keep head movements to a minimum as well as jerky movements forward or back.
Don't interrupt other speakers - Wait for an opening in the conversation before putting in your two cents. Cutting other speakers off is rude
Maintain eye contact by looking into the camera - Keep your focus on the camera. The worst thing is having your audience look at the top of your head because your typing or looking down at notes - or worse - at your smartphone.
Don't carry on side conversations - and if you wouldn't do it in a face-to-face meeting, then you shouldn't do it in a virtual one. That includes tuning out of the present conversation to talk to someone else sitting next to you, on the phone, in an IM chat, anywhere and anybody not in the current meeting.
Computer Requirements
Please take a few minutes to review the following information and make sure that when you are connecting your internet or WiFi has adequate speed by clicking on the speed test below. If you meet all the requirements and are still having difficulty, please contact us at info@cfps-tx.org
Below please find the computer and software requirements for Zoom participation.
Zoom.US
Below is a synopsis of the supported platforms and minimum software requirements. For a more detailed and technical listing, including hardware, please view Zoom’s site.
Supported Operating Systems for PC or Mac
For a PC, system details can be found by clicking the Window’s icon on the bottom toolbar and type “system” in the Search Programs and Files box and select “System” from the results.
For a Mac, system details can be found by clicking on the Apple icon in the top left-hand corner and choosing “About This Mac”.
· Windows XP with SP3 or later
· MacOS 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) with limited functionality (Zoom version 3.6) or later
Supported Tablet and Mobile Devices
· (Windows device) Surface PRO 2 running Win 8.1 or newer
· (Windows device) Surface PRO 3 running Win 10
· (Mac devices) iOS 7.0 or later
· (3rd-party Google devices) Android 4.0 or later
Supported Browsers
For most browsers, details can be found by selecting “About” or “Help” from the browser’s menu options
· Windows: IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Safari5+
· Mac: Safari5+, Firefox, Chrome
· Android: Webkit (default), Chrome
Recommended Internet Bandwidth for Webinar Attendees:
Viewers will need a minimum of 1.5 Mbps upload and download speed to participate. Most internet providers do not offer less than 10 Mbps but please note that other devices on the network share the same bandwidth causing slower speeds.
Additionally, devices not connected using WiFi or Ethernet cord require a LTE connection.
Your speed can be tested using the following site Speed Test - Free Internet Speed Test – HTML5, No App Needed