Lew Aron
IARPP, President 2001-2003

I am really delighted that IARPP's 2012 International Conference will be devoted to the Legacy of Stephen Mitchell. Hard as it is for many of us to imagine, it has been over a decade since we lost Steve and there is now a new generation of psychoanalysts who never heard him speak or watched as he taught a class or seminar. Not only did Steve modify our theory, he changed our conversation, our profession, our practice, the very lives of all he engaged. For many of us, the creativity of the relational turn was embodied, enacted, and articulated in and by Stephen Mitchell.

In the first years after his death it was, for many of his friends and colleagues, just too close, too soon, and too painful to step back and reflect on his staggering contributions to psychoanalysis. While it may remain difficult for some of us who were close to him, it is timely and necessary that we now begin this self-reflexive and reflective process. New York City was Steve's home and the center of the relational turn, and how appropriate that we welcome our American and international membership to New York City to reflect on his legacy.

Stuart A. Pizer, Ph.D., ABPP
IARPP President 2004-2005

LOOKING BACK:
I take particular satisfaction that as IARPP’s second President, I committed myself to the development of IARPP’s working structures for global participation, identity, communication, and governance in the service of emphasizing a strong, democratically functioning international association. I am also happy that I could support the two conferences that followed the Waldorf conference ten years ago, two successful conferences in Santa Monica and Rome that energized and confirmed the continuity of our annual conferences. At that first Waldorf conference I was thrilled to encounter colleagues and friends from around the world, some of whom I had not seen in decades—it was a true experience of gathering with a community, which I believe is most precious about IARPP. And I feel especially pleased that at that first conference at the Waldorf I proposed to Lew Aron, then IARPP’s first President, a Writer’s Development Program that, I believe, honors Steve Mitchell’s spirit of discovering and sponsoring new writers, and that, presently, co-chaired by Maureen Murphy and me, remains a service of value to MIP members and to the growing Relational literature and its community of contributors. I look forward to a stellar Tenth Anniversary Conference in New York, so aptly honoring Stephen Mitchell’s creativity, and wish IARPP a thriving future.

Hazel Ipp, PhD
IARPP President 2006-2008

IARRP : Looking Back; Looking Forward
As we mark this 10th year anniversary of IARPP, I am filled with pleasure, pride and awe.

We have come such a long way in a relatively short time in creating a true international community -- a community that is actively and vitally engaged with each other in mutual projects and ongoing conversations as we embrace the relational sensibility in thought and practice, with all its complexity and diverse applications.

What was at first just a gleam in Stephen Mitchell's eye, just over a decade ago, has come to fruition in unimaginable ways. How proud he would be. What delight he would take in his brainchild being carried forward with such momentum and across so many languages and communities. How grateful we are to him for igniting us in this remarkable way.

I was fortunate to take the helm of IARPP following the impressive leadership of Lew Aron and Stuart Pizer. With much of the infrastructure in place, I felt ready, along with my amazing colleagues and partners across the globe, to focus on and expand the international dimensions of the organization. We established an International Conference Committee comprised of members outside the U.S. who could best guide us in our international conferences. Our remarkable conferences in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco have been alternated with outstanding conferences outside the U.S. We have had unforgettable experiences in Rome, Athens, Tel Aviv and Madrid where , along with remarkable intellectual and clinical content, we have been exposed to amazing aspects of local community and culture in a way that has enriched and deepened our perspectives. I feel privileged and proud to have been part of the infrastructure of IARPP from the very beginning and especially privileged to have had a role in its leadership.

This is a burgeoning community. Many local chapters have been formed in different countries,. Our colloquia excite and stimulate intimate and challenging conversations amongst many, many voices across the globe. Our web seminars sell out on the day of posting. Our conferences are more and more inclusive of so many countries, near and far. Our sense of international community is firm and embracing. Our membership keeps growing and we have every reason to believe that IARPP will continue to expand and engage in ever fruitful and exciting ways.

To the next decade.
IARPP, the best is yet to come.

Jeremy Safran
President IARPP 2009-20010

Greetings to all members of the IARPP community on the occasion of our association’s 10th anniversary. It has been a great pleasure for me to watch our organization grow in size and vitality over the last decade. As new members from diverse cultures and training backgrounds have joined, our ongoing conversation has broadened and deepened, and relational theory and practice continue to develop. My sense is that relational psychoanalysis has also served as an important catalyst for valuable developments in other theoretical traditions, and I hope that it will continue to function in this fashion. I also hope that many of you will be able to join us for our upcoming 10th anniversary conference in New York City in spring 2012.

Warm regards to all,
Jeremy Safran

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