The website of CIPPA, Coordination Internationale entre Psychotherapeutes Psychanalystes s’occupant de personnes avec Autisme [International Association of Psychotherapists and Psychoanalysts working with people with Autism]
Membership of CIPPA, an association founded in accordance with the French law of 1901, is open to leaders of professional teams making use of the applications of Freudian psychoanalysis for the benefit of persons with autism. The aims of CIPPA include
We are profoundly concerned by the splits and conflicts between psychodynamic and educational approaches to autism that have arisen between some institutions and even within them, and that have been heightened by some sections of the media. We therefore think it is imperative to promote a wider and more accurate knowledge of our psychoanalytic practice, which advocates the integration of these two approaches.
Many parents, whose pain and courage we know and with whom we have been able to establish a genuine partnership, have mentioned their regret at our absence on the Internet, as have many researchers.
In this spirit, we shall make available the findings of our research and practice, to further a more widespread understanding of what a psychoanalytic approach can offer to a person with autism, whether in childhood, in adolescence, or in adulthood. Such an approach takes place within an appropriate environment that helps the person with autism to become better equipped to understand his or her surroundings, to communicate and to consolidate an individual sense of identity.
Help with managing bodily anxieties, fantasies and painful experiences (which can be a particular issue when people with autism become more clearly aware of being different) can enable them to make much fuller use of educational opportunities. This in turn ameliorates many emotional difficulties. We feel that respect for people with autism entails recognition of every aspect of their being and personality.
With these aims in view, CIPPA organises general meetings of its membership several times a year to work on topics such as:
Local groups exist in various French regions, and the membership includes professionals from Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Poland and Portugal. A media group monitors relevant publications in France and abroad.
Members of CIPPA are requested to complete a written account of one or two of their psychotherapeutic interventions (on an individual or group basis) including:
To conclude this introduction to our website, let us quote from Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget:
‘A treatment that combines analysis and educational methods, conducted by people who do not disdain to concern themselves with the environment the child lives in and who cooperate in finding a way in to the child’s emotional life, manages to achieve two things at once: to eliminate the symptoms and to reverse the changes in character…’ [Freud 1926, Lay Analysis, Standard Edition vol ]
‘The day will come when cognitive psychology and psychoanalysis will be obliged to merge into a general theory that will improve both by correcting each’ [Piaget, Problems of Genetic Psychology 1972, Denoel mediations, Nr. 95]
D. Amy, president
Cher internaute,
Nous espérons que vous trouverez dans notre site des éléments d’information, des pistes de réflexion et des axes de recherche dans le champ de la pédopsychiatrie.
En revanche, nous étudierons avec plaisir les propositions de publications en ligne de vos propres recherches ou d'annonces de journées de travail dans notre domaine d’intérêt.
Une seule adresse pour nous contacter : webmaster@psynem.org.
L’équipe de Psynem