UPCOMING EVENTS

If you have any questions or concerns about upcoming events, please contact Membership & Events Coordinator Julia Seixas at [email protected].

Upcoming Events 

The Community Outreach Division cordially invites you to join your colleagues and friends for an important PCOP Town Hall on Saturday, May 30th, 2026 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. Samuel Wyche, DO, will be leading the conversation on:

PROCESSING OUR RACIST THINKING: 

“Full Disclosure”

RSVP - Click Here (Members Only) 

• $80 for Non-Members Seeking CE Credit
• $40 for Non-Members not Seeking CE Credit 
• FREE for Students & PCOP Members 

Program Description 

Anni Bergman’s later work regarding rapprochement is briefly considered and then used as a foundation for this reconsideration of rapprochement’s place in development over the lifespan. Resolving rapprochement challenges is seen as the central developmental process whereby one either utilizes or refuses the love and care one receives. A sense of safety in early life leads to the capacity to metabolize love and to the development of a secure attachment followed by libidinal object constancy. This developmental achievement sets the stage for caring relationships and optimal development over the lifespan. A predominant sense of danger in early life, either reality-based or based primarily on internal experience, leads to the development of an insecure attachment. Hostile object constancy, a form of self-regulation based on the anticipation of future danger, leads to the defensive refusal of the actual love and care one receives. Subsequent interference with the capacity for caring relationships leads to pathological development over the course of life. Successful psychological treatment involves helping the patient become open to loving connections. In addition, Anni intended her work to pave the way for a reconciliation of Attachment Theory and Separation-Individuation Theory. This integration is better conceptualized as Attachment-Individuation Theory, which highlights the unique contributions of each to a unified developmental process. This article aims to further this integration.  

About the Speaker 

William Singletary, MD, is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, a member of the faculty and supervising child analyst of the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, and President of the Board of the Margaret S. Mahler Child Development Foundation. He is in private practice in Philadelphia, PA. A major focus of his work has been on understanding how building relationships contributes to changing the brain as well as our psychological structure and on developing the capacity to use available love as a major goal of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Currently, he and Timothy Rice recently published their paper, “Two diverging paths in psychological and neurobiological organization: Using or refusing love” as a Target Article in Neuropsychoanalysis. 

About the Discussant 
Irene Hurford, MD, graduated from the University of Toronto, and received her MD from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. She did her residency at UCLA, and completed a two year research fellowship in San Diego. Dr. Hurford is on volunteer clinical faculty in the department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches and supervises residents. Dr. Hurford was founder and clinical director of the Psychosis Education, Assessment, Care, and Empowerment (PEACE) program at Horizon House, Inc, which has become a leading First-Episode Psychosis (FEP) program across the United States. Dr. Hurford is a candidate at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, where she also teaches about psychotherapy for psychosis. She is currently in private practice where she specializes in the treatment of psychosis.

We are very excited to invite you all to our favorite event of the year—the Year End Dinner & Graduation Ceremony on Thursday, June 25th! This special occasion honors our members and graduating students for all their accomplishments and commitment to PCOP. We will present awards, enjoy good food and drinks, and toast to a wonderful year! Please see below for more details about the celebration and to register.  

Click here for the event flyer!

Click here to RSVP! *

Date: Thursday, June 25th, 2026

Time: 6:00 - 9:00 pm 

Location: Philadelphia Ethical Society - 1906 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Transportation & Parking Guides: Click here 

If you have any questions, please reach out to our Membership & Events Coordinator, Julia Seixas, at [email protected]. 

* Members only!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact PCOP Membership & Events Coordinator, Julia Seixas, at [email protected] for questions or assistance with registration!