New York, NY -- The Committee on Research and Special Training (CORST) of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) has announced Kevin Groark, Ph.D. as the recipient of its 2006 Essay Prize. The winning paper, entitled, "Placing the Self: Dreaming, Discourse, and Disavowed Volition among the Tzotzil Maya of Highland Chiapas, Mexico" resulted from a year of fieldwork by Dr. Groark in San Juan Chamula and San Cristobal de las Casas. The paper contributes to a multicultural understanding of an individual's subordination to his/her dreams in the Mayan culture in contrast to the Western cultural perspective that the responsibility for a dream lies within the dreamer.
Dr. Groark will present his paper on Thursday, January 18, 2007, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon during APsaA's Winter 2007 Meeting, which will be held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, from Wednesday, January 17 through Sunday, January 21, 2007. More than 2,000 psychoanalysts, students and other mental health professionals are expected to attend. Dr. Groark is a research assistant professor in occupational science and occupational therapy at the University of Southern California and a 2006-2007 APsaA Fellow.
CORST annually awards a $1,000 prize for the best essay on psychoanalytically informed research in the bio-behavioral sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. The winning author presents the paper at a special session of the Winter Meeting and the paper is reviewed for publication in The Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (JAPA). Chair of the CORST committee is Vera J. Camden, Ph.D., (Cleveland Heights, Ohio).
Founded in 1911, APsaA is a professional organization of psychoanalysts throughout the United States. The Association is composed of Affiliate Societies and Training Institutes in many cities and has approximately 3,500 individual members. APsaA is a Regional Association of the International Psychoanalytic Association.