Generous donation supports the field of psychoanalysis
Longtime member and president-elect of APA Div. 39 (Psychoanalysis) Dennis Debiak, PsyD, has supported the Campaign to Transform the Future with a major gift to APF's Division 39 Fund.
Debiak was first drawn to psychology by Susan Andersen, PhD, a social psychology professor at New York University, who inspired Debiak to become a psychologist and psychoanalyst in independent practice.
Over his career, Debiak has advocated for greater access to psychoanalytic psychotherapy, especially for communities that either have not had access to it or have been wary of it. He is committed to making clients and fellow psychologists aware of the tremendous amount of empirical support for, and benefits of, psychoanalysis. That devotion led him to join the steering committee for APF's Division 39 Fund, which supports psychoanalytic research, practice and community engagement, as well as the future of the field. When Debiak saw the impressive number of applications for Division 39 Fund grants, "I knew that making a larger gift was important so that the many important and exciting research, scholarship and community service projects in our field might have a better chance of coming to fruition."
Grant enables innovative work
APF has awarded its 2016 John and Polly Sparks Early Career Grant to Jennifer Thomas, PhD, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital who is testing a therapy for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). The condition, which affects children, can lead to nutritional deficiencies, cognitive impairment, anxiety, depression and inattention/hyperactivity. Thomas will use her grant to test a form of cognitive behavioral therapy to treat this disorder.
"I was excited for the patients who might ultimately benefit from our findings," says Thomas.
Funds further research on psychosis among the young
APF has presented its 2016 Pearson Early Career Grant to Aubrey Moe, PhD, who will investigate a novel adaptation of a social skills intervention for young people with psychosis in an inpatient setting.
Moe's project has the potential to make psychosocial treatments more accessible to these individuals earlier in their mental health treatment. "I intend to devote my career to improving our understanding of these disorders via patient-oriented clinical research."
Learn more For more information about how to support APF and or apply for its wealth of funding opportunities, visit APF or contact APF Program Officer Erin Carney at ecarney@apa.org or (202) 336-5984.
