Annual Benefit of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis

Bestselling Author Stephen Grosz to Headline Annual Benefit of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis – Proceeds Help Fund Psychoanalytic Training Programs and Community Based Clinical Services

On Wednesday, May 7, 2014, the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis will present its Annual Benefit at the Union League Club of Chicago, one of the city’s most prominent clubs. The evening event will feature Stephen Grosz, an esteemed psychoanalyst and bestselling author of, The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves. Grosz resides in the UK and teaches at the Institute of Psychoanalysis and at University College London, but his youth was spent in the Chicago area. Born in northwest Indiana, Grosz is the son of an intellectual grocery store keeper from Eastern Europe and an American-born painter. At the tender age of 17, he knew he wanted to pursue a career involving human psyches and pursued his education in psychology and politics at the University of California, Berkeley, followed by Oxford University. Early on, he utilized psychoanalysis to understand politics – and analyzed literature to understand psychoanalysis.

Grosz has spent over 50,000 hours helping patients over the last 25 years – in the intimate setting of his private office, at public clinics, hospitals, and a variety of community settings. In a masterful manner, Grosz’ captivating accounts of his patients encapsulate what the highly skilled psychoanalysts and other mental health professionals who train, work, and/or teach at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis do on a daily basis. As Grosz eloquently writes in chapter four, “At one time or another, we all try to silence painful emotions. But when we succeed in feeling nothing, we lose the only means we have of knowing what hurts us, and why.” From the Institute’s austere beginnings in 1932 to the dynamic, far-reaching presence it is today, the dedicated mental health practitioners associated with this unique Chicago organization have helped thousands of patients from every walk of life – children, adolescents, and adults – lose and find themselves.

“Psychoanalysis is a form of therapeutic intervention that helps children and adults change their lives in ways that no other kind of help can. It provides a unique window to understanding the world around us, shaping positive change on many levels including social interactions. Psychoanalysis offers insight into human motivation, respect for the meaning of emotional experience, and appreciation of the power of personal relationships,” Institute Director Erika Schmidt said.

“The Examined Life speaks in a language without technical artifice, weaving in literary references and personal experiences - the words evoking the heartfelt empathy Grosz feels for his patients. Grosz conveys the emotional reality of the psychoanalytic process, whether patients are engaged in formal psychoanalysis or less frequent psychotherapy. He achieves this by emphasizing the essential qualities of listening, being present, and understanding - as central to creating therapeutic change. Grosz's capacity to capture this transformative power makes him an ideal speaker for our Benefit as we come together to celebrate psychoanalysis and the psychoanalytic community in Chicago,” Schmidt said.

The Institute has made mental health intervention more accessible to some of Chicago’s most vulnerable and underserved communities; at its Adult Psychotherapy Clinic, multiple sites administered by the Barr-Harris Grief Center, and through a variety of therapeutic programs delivered under the auspices of the Center for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. One of the Institute’s ongoing and very successful programs, launched in 2007-2008, provides therapeutic services to some of Chicago’s high-risk youth - schoolchildren in the Engelwood and Woodlawn communities. “The setting can be a plush couch in a lovely office, or a well-worn schoolroom in a neighborhood scarred by gang warfare and violence. Regardless of the setting, as Grosz so effectively conveys, the psychotherapist’s foremost mission is to provide a safe haven to be understood,” Schmidt said.

The Institute educates mental health professionals as psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, provides psychotherapy and consultation services to underserved communities, and actively advocates for the values of psychoanalysis in the public policy and media discourse. The Institute is committed to serving those in need, and offers reduced fee psychoanalysis to adults and a range of services to children and their families on a sliding scale in clinics throughout the community. In-kind donations will help offset costs for the event, allowing funds raised through the Annual Benefit to support the Institute’s educational programs, clinical services to underserved and at-risk groups within the community, and diverse public programs.

WHO: Stephen Grosz, esteemed psychoanalyst and bestselling author of, The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves. The author will be selling/signing copies of his book with proceeds benefiting the Institute.

WHAT: The Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis Annual Benefit. Cost: $250.00 per person, $125 for Institute students; various sponsorship level packages are available, as well as in-kind donation opportunities. For more information, contact Chris Susman at 312-922-7474 x324 or development@chicagoanalysis.org. Registration closes on April 28.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 7, 2014, 6:00 p.m. Cocktails, Dinner & Program

WHERE: Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604