5th International PBSP Congress:  "Remembering our Roots, Spreading Our Wings"  June 9-12, 2005 in Minneapolis, MN USA

The 5th International PBSP Congress  

The website for the 5th International PBSP Congress was www.pbsp-ncps.com

The Congress was a great success!!  The plenary sessions were terrific.  David Cooper set the pace at the beginning of the conference with his compilation of all of Albert Pesso and Diane Boyden-Pesso's lectures and comments as they led structures that he copied verbatim into his computer during the many years of his participation in their training groups.  He has made the fruit of his efforts available on a CD Rom.

 Lowijs Perquin gave a masterful presentation on the neuro-scientific basis of PBSP and also gave an overview of the research done in Prague by Albert Pesso and Jiri Horacek using fMRI brain scans showing the positive neurological changes occurring in seven patients following two days of structures.

Bessel van der Kolk, always one of the most interesting and exciting presenters, once again enchanted his audience with his insights about the treatment of trauma and PTSD.  To our attendees delight, he was effusive in his praise of PBSP as an effective, complex treatment process.

Martha Stark received a standing ovation following her review of the contribution of PBSP to psychoanalytic thinking about resistance using the Holes in Roles procedures recently developed and codified by Albert Pesso.  Martha's lecture is the first of a series of Louisa Howe Memorial Lectures.  Louisa would have been proud to hear Martha's clear, succinct overview of the various modes of patient therapist relationships.

Maggie Scarf presented her book, "Secrets, Lies, Betrayals," and kept the audience deeply engrossed as she reviewed her own process writing the book.  She is one of the best writers on psychological subjects, and can make readers feel as if they were present in the events she so skillfully and sensitively describes.

The Pre-Conference Institutes gave the attendees the information and skills they came to learn and the workshops were the best yet of any previous PBSP Congress.

Now for the entertainment and social events --  they just couldn't be better.  The atmosphere on the paddle wheel boat going down the Mississippi was high with the music of Matt Fried and his sister Carrie Friend Sutton, Lowijs Perquin, Jim Amundsen, and Gerrit de Bruin.  The dancing rocked the boat and even Al, ready for hip surgery -- couldn't resist the mood and danced while sitting -- mostly upper body and cane.

All in all, it was just super.  The camaraderie, the scholarship, the friendship and collaboration set the tone for the future.  Yes indeed, we are primed and ready to spread our wings.

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