Background and Traditions

Top Row: D.W. Winnicott, Melanie Klein, Jacques Lacan, Wilfred Bion, Christopher Bollas Middle Row: Margaret Mahler, Heinz Kohut, Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, Stephen Mitchell Bottom Row: Ronald Fairbairn, Karen Horney, Peter Fonagy, Otto Kernberg, Hans Loewald, Joyce McDougall

THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY ENRICHED BY THE VITALITY 
AND DYNAMISM OF CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOANALYSIS

The Oregon Psychoanalytic Center (OPC) has had a tradition of excellence since its earliest origins as the Oregon Study Group, which began in 1965; it was accepted by the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) as a study group in 1981 and as a society in 1994. In 1995 Oregon Psychoanalytic Institute (OPI) was established as a new training facility under the auspices of APsaA, and the sponsorship of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute. In 2005 the Oregon Psychoanalytic Institute was granted status as a provisional institute, and in 2010 it became a freestanding APsaA institute. Our invaluable collaboration with San Francisco continues in the areas of teaching and consultation. In July 2003, the Oregon Psychoanalytic Society and Institute merged with Oregon Psychoanalytic Foundation to form the Oregon Psychoanalytic Center, providing a new model for expanding psychoanalytic ideas and psychotherapy in the community. OPC programs have grown rapidly, with expanding Portland faculty, visiting faculty from all over the country, diverse candidate and student groups, and multiple educational offerings. OPI’s training and supervising analysts brought with them differing traditions from their training in Chicago, Seattle, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and Topeka. OPC has created an intellectual climate emphasizing diverse analytic approaches, encouraging open inquiry and investigation of new ideas.