2022 IPA Research Grants- Awarded Recipients
Overview: The IPA Research Grants Subcommittee was delighted to welcome proposals in both English and Spanish in 2022. This is an initiative we aim to continue in 2023 and beyond, and we hope to welcome proposals from multiple languages in the future in order to expand our reach in various psychoanalytic communities.
Application and Awards Process:
- To qualify for grant consideration, applicants were once again asked to present a research proposal application that provided details such as: the overview of the planned research, methodology, the relevance to psychoanalysis and its development, institutional affiliation, ethical approval, and the project’s relevance to the goals of the IPA.
- We are delighted to have received a record number of participating reviewers in 2022, which allowed us to allocate three different grant reviewers to nearly every research proposal. Once again, members of the research grants subcommittee were then allocated to evaluate the reviews received, so all reviews were assessed. Where there were significant differences of opinion among the reviewers, the subcommittee member further reviewed the application to understand and account for the discrepancies.
- The subcommittee held a decision-making process meeting to discuss and narrow the short list of research grants we could award based on the funds available. In doing so, subcommittee members looked primarily at the special merits of each application, but also considered the distribution of grants among the various IPA regions and across the various domains of research (bearing in mind, once again, that there were not an equal number of submissions from the three IPA regions or within the various domains of research).
- On completion of their awarded grant, researchers have agreed to submit a a scientific report that details the outcome or progress of the research, as well as copies to publications resulting from the research. There reports and papers will be accessible via the IPA research database.
Read about the 2022 IPA Research Grant Recipients:
129 Beyond Lerner Defense Scale and Rorschach Defense Scale toward the development
of a valid and reliable measure of defenses- Outcome- EPF (Italy)
Principal Investigator: Anna Maria Rosso, Member- Italian Psychoanalytical Society
Co-Investigators: Carl Gacono, Jason Smith, Andrea Camoirano (Non-members)
This study intends to produce revised Rorschach scales that allow for the assessment of the
level of defensive functioning (neurotic, borderline, psychotic) from a Comprehensive System
Rorschach assessment. This defensive functioning description would allow for objectively
evaluating analysability among applicants for analysis at clinics and institutes and it would
allow for evaluation of changes in defensive functioning as a result of treatment. The research
has been started and the grant will allow for completion of the revisions of the two scales and
the writing of a concise description of how to score and interpret them.
158 Soma, psyche and mode of teleanalysis: continuing impact of Covid-19 on
candidates and training analysts- Remote (candidate)- EPF (United Kingdom)
Principal Investigator: Cynthia Fu, Candidate- Institute of the British Psychoanalytical Society
Candidates and training analysts will be interviewed about their experiences providing
teleanalysis and, in the case of the candidates, receiving teleanalysis. The interviews will then
be subjected to a thematic analysis to help articulate themes that describe these
experiences. The grant will be used to pay for the transcription of the interviews so that there
is a record that researchers can use to collaboratively articulate these. As candidates were
both in their own analyses and providing analysis during pandemic restrictions on personal
contact, they have the ability to describe their experiences both as providers and receivers of
telehealth.
133 A feasibility study of the Building Baby Brains training program for health workers
in rural Pakistan- Social (candidate)-NAPSAC (USA/Pakistan)
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Levey, Member- America Psychoanalytic Association
Co-Investigators: Alexandra Harrison, Member- American Psychoanalytic Association,
Muhammad Zeshan, Shazia Parveen (Non-members)
This is a very well designed project which aims to evaluate a psychoanalytically oriented
intervention provided by lady health workers in Pakistan to intervene in households of
families with babies, supporting infant caregiving, thereby reducing adverse childhood
experiences. This is an opportunity to produce evidence of the contribution of psychoanalytic based
techniques towards public policies for low- and middle-income countries, which are in
worse conditions due to the pandemic. They already have some budget from other sources,
including Harvard, since some of the authors are linked to this university, which represents
an opportunity for IPA to figure among important players in papers published in high impact
factor non-psychoanalytic journals.
171 A review on the experience of infertile women about the meaning of motherhood
according to the concept of the dead mother complex- Social- Iran (Other)
Principal Investigator: Zeinab Nematollahi, Non-member
Co-Investigators: Zohre Khosravi, Zahra Ghanbari, Mohsen Parsa (Non-members)
This project aims to use a classic psychoanalytic concept, Andre Green's dead mother, to
explore with a qualitative methodology the relationship between this unconscious "state of
mind" and infertility cases which do not have a somatic explanation, a very important issue
in Iran where this creative research is going to take place. Women who face important
difficulties in getting pregnant will be interviewed and the material will be analysed
considering the concept of the dead mother. It is an important step to continue this research
by developing a questionnaire suitable for quantitative research. This is probably one of the
earliest psychoanalytic researches in Iran.
123 Phenomenological Investigations of Teleanalysis - Remote, Conceptual
(candidate)- NAPSAC (USA)
Principal Investigator: Nicolle Zapien, Candidate- PINC (Northern California)
Twelve psychoanalysts and twelve candidates/analysands will be interviewed focusing on
their experiences with either 12 months of teleanalysis or a combination of at least six months
teleanalysis and six months in-person analysis during the last two years. The interviews will
be done by phone or Zoom, recorded, and transcribed before a qualitative analysis will be
performed, a so-called “phenomenological analysis as described by Giorgi (2009). The
research questions are: Is teleanalysis equivalent to in-person analysis? If there are
differences what are the differences? What are indications, contraindications and
considerations regarding the treatment frame of teleanalysis?
130 Pilot-study of the Structured Interview of Personality Organization in adolescents
(STIPO-RA)- Outcome- EPF (Austria)
Principal Investigator: Clarissa Laczkovics, Member- Vienna Psychoanalytic Society
Co-Investigators: Victor Blüml, Member- Vienna Psychoanalytic Society
This is a validity study on the Revised version of the Structured Interview of Personality
Organization (STIPO-R) that has been translated into German and adapted for use in
adolescents (STIPO-RA). The interview is based on Otto Kernberg´s object relation theory and
his concept of personality organization. Together with two other interviews for descriptive
diagnosis as well as self-injurious thoughts and behaviour the STIPO-RA will be applied to 36
adolescent patients with suspected personality disorders and 36 adolescent patients with
mixed diagnosis, but no personality disorder. After validation the interview can be used for
the assessment of personality organization and its change in adolescent patients, who, e.g.,
receive psychoanalytic treatment.
151 Defensive people shy away from language ambiguity but stumble upon words and
end up doing taboo slips: an experimental research corroborating Freud - Mind & Brain-
EPF (Belgium)
Principal Investigator: Lola Thieffry, Non-member
Co-Investigators: Ariane Bazan, Non-member
This submission from the University of Lorraine, Belgium, tries to test the Freudian hypothesis
that parapraxes are caused by repressed thoughts empirically with an experimental design,
using the SLIP technique (Spoonerisms of Laboratory Induced Predisposition). The hypothesis
is that the most defended participants will produce the greatest number of parapraxes. In
addition, medial and frontal brain activity will be investigated in order to describe possible
connections between specific brain activities and defenses against threatening stimuli. Thus,
this project will be beneficial for the development of psychoanalytic theory as well as for the
dialogue between psychoanalysis and adjacent disciplines, e.g., cognitive neuroscience,
psycho- and neurolinguistics.
168 Patients’ Defense Mechanisms Early and Late in Recorded Psychoanalytic
Treatments- Outcome- NAPSAC (USA)
Principal Investigators: Katie Aafjes-van Doorn, Vera Bekes, Mariagrazia Di Giuseppe (Non-members)
The proposed study from Yeshiva University in New York tries to investigate the change in
patients’ use of defenses as they occur in psychoanalytic sessions and its relationship with
existing measures of treatment outcome. The study has several major goals, e.g., the
quantitative measure of patient’s defense activity in 27 psychoanalytic treatments, assessed
in 2 early and 2 late sessions and whether possible changes of defenses over the course of
these treatments can be detected. One of the hypotheses is that the initial use of more
mature higher-level of defenses early in treatment predict better treatment outcome. The
results of the study have the potential to contribute important information about whether
the patients’ defensive functioning indeed improves and how this may be connected to
outcome.
122 Lessons from the forced transitions to remote psychotherapy and ways back to the
office due to the COVID-19 pandemic- Remote, Process- EPF (Sweden)
Principal Investigator: Andrzej Werbart, Member- Swedish Psychoanalytical Association
Co-Investigators: Björn Philips, Camilla von Below, David Anders (Non-members)
Lessons from forced transitions to remote psychotherapy and ways back to the office due to
the COVID-19 pandemic." The principal investigator is Andrzej Werbart of Stockholm,
Sweden. The project is in the domain of process studies relating to remote psychoanalysis,
also known as teleanalysis. The study aims to investigate the short-term experiences, for both
patients and therapists of transitions to, and back from, teletherapy. It will also study the
long-term effects of these transitions in relation to patients' personality orientation and
attachment style. An additional goal is to clarify which patients -- and under which
circumstances -- benefit more from the customary psychotherapy setting or from teletherapy.
126 Freud and the "porteños": a cultural-historical reconstruction of the Buenos Aires
Psychoanalytic Association (APdeBA) (1977-2022)- Conceptual- FEPAL (Argentina)
Principal Investigator: Mariano Ruperthuz, Member- APDEBA (Buenos Aires)
Mariano Ruperthuz of Buenos Aires, Argentina is the Principal Investigator of a grant entitled,
"Freud and the "porteños": a cultural-historical reconstruction of the Buenos Aires
Psychoanalytic Association (APdeBA) (1977-2022)." The project is in the Conceptual domain.
Following on Freud's 1914 paper "On the History of the Psychoanalytic Movement, “the
project explores the growth and institutionalization of psychoanalysis in one of the "capitals
of psychoanalysis" worldwide. Of particular interest, it seeks to study the penetration of
psychoanalytic ideas beyond professional circles, and its broad impact on the intellectual life
and popular culture of Buenos Aires. The project also seeks to explore epistemic and
professional changes in the institute since its founding, especially in relation to psychoanalytic
training.
2101 Multi-Level Outcome Study of Psychoanalyses of Chronically Depressed Patients
with Early Trauma (MODE)- Outcome/Process/Mind and Brain- EPF (Germany)
Principal Investigator: Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber, Member- DPV (Germany)
Co-Investigators: Tamara Fischmann, Member- DPV
Once again this year, the Research Committee has provided funding for the Multi-Level
Outcome Study of Psychoanalyses of Chronically Depressed Patients with Early Trauma
(MODE). The principal investigators are Prof. Dr. Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber (PI for Clinical
Part of MODE), Prof. Dr. Bradley Peterson (PI for Neuroscientific Part of MODE). It is a multicentric
study in Germany, Switzerland and the US. MODE was initiated by the Board of the
IPA 2017 to systematically investigate the impact of session frequency on psychoanalysis
outcomes. It is a one-year randomized controlled trial with two treatment conditions (high
frequency and low frequency psychoanalysis), and one group of healthy controls. Outcomes
will be assessed using : a) clinical-psychoanalytical methods, b) established psychological
instruments of psychotherapy research and c) neurobiological instruments, specifically brain
imaging. Current funding of the project will allow continuing work in the three centers to
support studying a sufficient number of participant subjects to permit valid and robust
conclusions from the research.
174 Graduate Student & Instructor Perceptions of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
Training- Conceptual- NAPSAC (USA)
Principal Investigator: Stephanie Kors (Non-member)
Co-Investigators: Rebecca Drill (Non-member)
This submission from the US, in the domain of Conceptual, proposes to study the significant
decrease in clinicians who identify themselves as psychoanalytic or psychodynamic in
orientation and the related trend in our field away from insight-oriented care towards shortterm
symptom-focused care. The authors suggest that the best way to increase interest in
psychoanalysis is to improve teaching of psychoanalytic theory and evidence-based
psychoanalytic treatment in graduate schools. They plan to survey students and instructors
in 10 graduate programs across the US using a mixed methods design to examine student and
instructor perceptions of the efficacy of psychoanalytic graduate training. They propose to
present qualitative and quantitative data at a conference in the spring of 2023 and a
manuscript will be submitted in the summer of 2023.
169 Therapist Nonverbal Coordination in Psychodynamic Child Psychotherapy: Its
Connection to Children’s Symbolic Play, Affect Regulation and Outcome-
Child- NAPSAC (USA/Turkey)
Principal Investigator: Zeynep Catay Caliskan (Non-member)
Co-Investigators: Sibel Halfon (Non-member)
This submission proposes to create a Psychotherapist’s Nonverbal Coordination Coding
system as a practical tool to enhance clinicians’ abilities to observe, describe, evaluate, and
respond to nonverbal bodily communication within sessions The authors add that they will
develop the training of this coding system and promote its dissemination as a research and
clinical supervision tool. A preliminary form of this coding system has been developed at the
New School of NY in consultation with Drs. Miriam Steele and George Downing. This
submission from the US and Turkey, in the domain of Outcome.