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International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations

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The International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO) is a professional organization with 320 members globally. The largest groups are from Eastern and Western Europe (103), the United States (100), Australia (50), and the United Kingdom (44). Its members come from a wide range of professions, including academicians, organization consultants, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychologists, and human resource professionals.[1]

The ISPSO aims to foster a community of thinkers and practitioners interested in examining organizations from a psychoanalytic perspective. It facilitates the exchange of ideas among scholars and practitioners from various disciplines, countries, and political viewpoints, particularly those focused on applying research and theory to practice. It provides a forum for discussing, presenting, and distributing papers that explore the field of psychoanalytic organizational studies.[2]

Activities

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The ISPSO holds an annual week-long meeting consisting of four days of workshops focused on professional development and three days of a symposium for the presentation and discussion of scholarly papers. Each annual meeting is sponsored by members in a particular country and organized around a specific theme. Additionally, members from Australia, Europe, the United States, and South America hold regional meetings to consider a particular theme or issue. The ISPSO's Annual Meeting has been held in cities such as Helsingør, Jerusalem, London, Melbourne, Paris, Philadelphia, and Stockholm. Conference themes have included "Motivation and Meaning at Work," "The Dark Side of Competition: Psychoanalytic Insights: Power, Politics, Destructiveness," and "Creativity in Organizations: A Psychoanalytic Perspective."

Members and non-members may submit abstracts for papers they wish to present at the symposium. The organizing committee selects abstracts for presentation as full papers at the symposium. Papers typically cover a wide range of topics, with many based on case studies of consultations to businesses and not-for-profit organizations.

These symposia, while organized as traditional academic conferences, incorporate two features: a "social dreaming matrix" each morning and a summative reflection on learnings of the day in the afternoon. These activities reflect the ISPSO's belief that groups can facilitate individual learning through self-reflection and by eliciting people's unconsciously coded responses to the themes, issues, and events of a particular setting.

Scholarship

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Many papers presented at the symposia have been published in academic journals and books. Several books published by Karnac Press draw on papers presented at the symposia, as well as the work and writing of individual members. Examples include Psychoanalytic Studies of Organizations: Contributions from the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations [3] and Psychoanalytic Reflections in a Changing World. [4]. Members have contributed to the academic journal Organizational and Social Dynamics, [5] edited by members of OPUS (the Organization for Promoting the Understanding of Society),[6] which focuses on the links between psychoanalytic understanding and social issues, as well as to the journal Socioanalysis published in Melbourne. The ISPSO maintains an online library of abstracts and full articles from symposia and other sources.[7] Some material is restricted to members, but much of it is freely available.

Roots and Connections

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The ISPSO's mission is an example of "Applied Psychoanalysis."[8] Other examples are using psychoanalytic theory and concepts to understand literature,[9] and psychohistory,[10] or exploring biographies of people in their social-historical context.[11] Psychoanalytic institutes apply psychoanalysis in their work with schools, prisons, and other human service organizations where emotions play an important role.[12]

The ISPSO has relationships and overlapping memberships with other organizations, including:

  • The Organization for Promoting the Understanding of Society (OPUS)
  • The A.K. Rice Institutes in the United States[13]
  • Group relations organizations in other countries

References

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  1. ^ "Distinguished Members". ispso.org. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  2. ^ http://ispso.wdfiles.com/local--files/nav%3Aispso/ISPSO%20Handbook%20Feb%202013.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ Burkard Sievers, et al, eds., Psychoanalytic Studies of Organizations: Contributions from the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations, London: Karnac Books, 2009
  4. ^ Psychoanalytic Reflections in a Changing World, Halina Bruning, ed., London: Karnac Books, 2012
  5. ^ http://www.karnacbooks.com/JournalOPUS.asp) Archived 2013-05-26 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Home". opus.org.uk.
  7. ^ "Welcome to the ISPSO Library | ISPSO Library". Library.ispso.org. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
  8. ^ Esman AH., "What is 'Applied' in Applied Psychoanalysis," International Journal of Psychoanalysis, August, 1998, pp., 741-756.
  9. ^ Askew, M., "Psychoanalysis and Literary Criticism," Psychoanalytic Review, Volume 51, 1964 pp. 211-218
  10. ^ Burston, Daniel, Erik Erikson and the American Psyche Ego, Ethics, and Evolution, Lanham, MD, Jason Aaronson, 2007
  11. ^ Zaleznik, Abraham, Hedgehogs and Foxes : Character, Leadership, and Command in organizations, New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2008.
  12. ^ Twemlow SW, et al, "A Development Approach to Mentalizing Communities: The Peaceful Schools Experiment," Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, Fall 2005, pp. 282-304.
  13. ^ "Related Organizations - ISPSO". 2012-10-03. Archived from the original on 2012-10-03. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
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