- RELATED
Jean Sanville (1918-2013)
Tributes - 2013
My time with Jean was always treasured, as was being with her recently on Saturday afternoon.
She passed on, just yesterday morning, Monday Nov. 4th at 2:37 AM. I took some poems with me to read
to her at her bedside since we often shared reading poems to each other. She was calm; peaceful; and
seemed ready to move on. Jean showed me a number of pathways, including this one: moving on and into
the great mystery. I sense that she went 'gently into the night.' I remain grateful for her kind &
loving ways. Just wanted to share…
~ Karen Redding, Laguna Beach, CA
LAISPS members are very saddened by the loss of one of our few remaining founders.
Jean was a gentle giant in terms of her fine mind, sense of fairness, and compassion for
all. She taught, supervised, and analyzed many of us. She leaves a rich and meaningful
legacy to LAISPS and to psychoanalysis.
~ Lynn Goren
Karen, Thank you for your beautiful and heartfelt announcement. You really captured her essence.
~ John Chiaramonte
I've known Jean for my entire career. Having just returned from IFPE conference
on Transience & Permanence, I am confronted again by the former with Jean's passing.
The community won't seem the same without her.
~ Veronica D. Abney, Ph.D.
What a great picture of her, Karen! Really captures her vivacity.
I was in a reading group with her for a few years. She wanted to
read novels by African American women and that's what we did. She
was also my teacher at UCLA. How much she influenced the development of our field.
She was a great leader.
~ Cydny Rothe.
Jean is someone who touched all who met her. How fortunate
for all of us to have her prodigious legacy.
~ Robin Young, PhD, New York, NY
I met Jean Sanville once in the early 1980's when she and her partner and co-author
(“Illusions in Loving,” 1978), Joel Shor, who analyzed my husband, Murray Kagel,
and became his friend, visited New York. She was intelligent, charming
and will continue to be a valued role model as a woman, social worker,
psychoanalyst, scholar and teacher.
~ Connie Moss Kagel
Jean was one of our special members and models!
~ Christine Erskine (formerly DC, now in Boone, NC)
Tiny as she was in her body, Jean Sanville was a giant in clinical social work
and the psychoanalytic community. Among her many accomplishments and contributions,
she helped found both the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies
and the California Institute for Clinical Social Work, in the mid-1970s.
CICSW was, and is, an innovative doctoral program in northern and southern
California. In recognition of Jean, its founding dean, the Institute changed
its name in 2005 to The Sanville Institute. Jean's comments on that occasion
are here http://sanville.edu/about/remarks-from-jean-sanville/ and they
capture her voice so beautifully. We will miss this sparkling intellect
and remarkable woman.
~ Whitney van Nouhuys, PhD, Academic Dean, The Sanville Institute, Berkeley, CA
Sad it is to hear that Jean, who I too found sound generous and encouraging
in my own professional career, has died. She was a great inspiration to
all of us who believe that social work psychoanalysis has much to offer.
Her work will continue to impress generations of social workers to come.
I'm glad to hear the end was peaceful.
~ Cathy Siebold DSW, New York, NY
As a person, a clinician and a scholar, she was a treasure to
the profession and to many of us personally.
~ Jeff Applegate
Jean Sanville was a generative, kind, gracious woman who greatly touched me.
She was a friend and colleague. When she came to our AAPCSW conferences, she felt
she was coming home. I will miss her. I wrote the below in tribute to her at a
conference long ago: We pay tribute to Jean Sanville, recognizing the work of an
outstanding woman in the field of psychoanalysis and social work. Jean has always
worked hard and supported the NMCOP. I served on the original study group with
Jean for many years. She was involved in all our conferences and I served on a
number of panels with her, so I saw firsthand just how much she brings to her work.
Jean's contribution to psychoanalysis and social work has opened new vistas in the
landscape of our dual disciplines. Much like Freud, Jean goes beyond the
psychoanalytic realm, into the culture at large. Reading her work, one is
reminded of those elite renaissance women who were able to grasp and
integrate diverse fields of knowledge within a coherent, elegant, and
sophisticated narrative and art, all which stimulates our thinking and
awakens our senses. It is a pleasure and an honor, personally and professionally,
to congratulate Jean. With deep gratitude and love
~ Judy Ann Kaplan, President, NMCOP, New York, NY.
I, too, have really fond memories of Jean. Each year, she hosted local
Smith SW alums and MSW students who were doing their field placements in
Los Angeles. She loved holding gatherings in her beautiful house. She would
tell stories about her latest research and urge us to keep after Smith to
make sure they retained their psychodynamic focus. She took an interest in
each and every student. She was a feisty and inspirational presence and a
“grande dame” of social work in LA.
~ Lynn Rosenfield.
While I did not study with Jean her writings were and are very special,
in that she demonstrated intellectual humility and expressed an essential humanity,
whether talking clinically, about theory or in learning psychotherapy. We live
at a time of reductionism in all facets of mental health funding and in clinical
training. Political-economic greed and basic assumptive fanaticism neglects the
“person” in favor of part objects or “behavioral” health (whatever that means).
The loss of Jean Sanville feels especially tragic at this critical moment for psychoanalysis.
~ Carl Bagnini
At this sad time, I am reminded, like many, of my contacts with Jean over
the years and the interest she took in the legislative work that I have been
doing over the past 15 years. She and Ellen Ruderman arranged for me to give
a talk at her wonderful home early in my legislative career. Jean and Ellen's
support as well as the interest of others who attended was an inspiration for
me to continue to develop this side of my professional work. Jean's interests
were deep and wide and gave all of us permission to make connections that might
not be obvious but expanded our thinking and the scope of our wonderful profession.
I was also moved by Karen Redding's description of her time with Jean during
her last days and very much appreciated her sharing that with us.
~ Laura W. Groshong, LICSW
The following was posted on the APsaA listserve this morning: Jean Sanville 1918-2013
The fields of psychoanalysis and social work lost a great leader, pioneer, innovator,
clinician, and theoretician this past Monday. Jean Sanville, Ph.D. died
peacefully at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 94. Jean's contributions
to our fields were enormous. She helped found both the Los Angeles Institute
and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies, and the Institute for Clinical Social
Work in California, a doctoral program in clinical social work. That institute
was renamed the Sanville Institute for Clinical Social Work in her honor in
2005. She published many papers, and at least 5 books on psychoanalytic
treatment including: The Playground of Psychoanalytic Therapy; Fostering
Healing and Growth: A Psychoanalytic Social Work Approach (with Joyce
Edward); Therapies with Women in Transition (with Ellen Ruderman). I
had met and knew Jean over the years. I remember this slight, tiny woman,
who was anything but slight and tiny in her convictions about
psychoanalytic ideas, treatment, organizations, and our two fields.
Whenever clinical social workers were having a conference during the
70's, 80's, 90's and until recently, Jean's name always came up as a
potential speaker. Never would one walk away from her presentation
without feeling the impact of her ideas and words. The last time I saw
her was during a Presidential Symposium on Social Work and Psychoanalysis
that had been organized by Dick Fox when he was APsaA president years
ago. Jean represented so much of the history, good and bad, between
APsaA and other psychoanalytic organizations. Her comments during that
symposium on various papers presented were invaluable. She will be missed
in our field. I have pasted below some of her remarks from the Sanville
Institute for Clinical Social Work website that I think capture something
of who she was. I especially like the last line. She will be sadly missed.
From Jean Sanville (2005): “Where to begin to tell you what it means to me
to have the California Institute for Clinical Social Work renamed THE
SANVILLE INSTITUTE? And that this change of name is happening because
the Institute no longer limits its doctoral program to clinical social
workers but extends its educational offerings to those holding master's
degrees in a closely related profession marriage and family therapy professionals
who work in domains almost indistinguishable from those of social work. So, there
would seem to be every reason to assume some basic similarities in what we do,
although, for historical reasons, there may have existed some differences in
how we think. Historically, we social workers may have drawn much more heavily
upon psychoanalytic theory. I am sad that in today's world there would seem
to be few schools of social work still embracing the concepts of Freud and
his creative followers. I think, or hope, that my own alma mater, Smith College
School of Social Work is an exception. We might predict that in California both
of these helping professions could be enriched by their 'intermarriage......'*
“Psychoanalysis: Now More Than Ever.”
~ Mark D. Smaller, Ph.D.; President-elect, American Psychoanalytic Association
With Jean's passing it seems like some of the sparkle has gone out of
the world. Along with her loving ways, her beautiful mind and person,
her delightful sense of humor, her interest in all things both large
and small, her fine creative and intellectual capabilities, and her
contributions to psychoanalysis and to the general good, Jean made
the world seem a bit brighter. She certainly brightened my life,
and I am so grateful for our many years of friendship and for all
that we shared. The good times were enhanced by her presence and
the difficult ones easier to bear with her support.
~ Joyce Edward
After reading the testimonials, I realized I missed out on knowing
a wonderful and gifted person. The memory I have was walking together
and talking casually on our way to the Saturday night gala in downtown
Manhattan at the 2004 conference. She was a bit frail, and I was impressed
that she was strong in spirit. She made a great impact on psychoanalysis
and clinical social work. She will be remembered as one of our
legendary pioneering figures.
~ Penny Rosen
I was so so very sad to learn of Jean's final days and death from her
niece. We all mourn her loss, our beloved and highly esteemed founder and
first dean of the Sanville Institute, formerly the California Institute
for Clinical Social Work, as well as her vast overall contributions to
our field. Jean was a true scholar and an original thinker, who published
many papers and important books. The educational principles she espoused,
indeed her vision for advanced clinical education, are followed today, as
they were set in motion by Jean. Jean's values and ethos inform us and
guide us. She and I had a very special relationship from the time we
worked together during the original process of forming the Sanville
Institute. Our collegial and personal bonds were deep and we remained
in close contact throughout all these years. I treasured Jean and feel
very fortunate to have known her and worked with her for so many years.
Nothing will be the same without her!
~ Samoan Barish
“Believing Mirrors” is a term I just learned from Julia Cameron, in a workshop 11/1/13, on
the “Right to Write” (a book also she has written by that name). She believes we are all
writers. Jean Sanville that I met a few times, but never knew well, through the comments
on AAPCSW has provided me, a model of courage and commitment to helping people
to good health. She was a “Believing Mirror” for Psychoanalysis. I have
appreciated the comments; her ideas and legacy live on.
~ Patsy Turrini
Written for the LA Times by Joe Bobrow, PhD:
Jean Sanville: A Life in Dialogue
Jean Sanville, beloved clinical social worker and psychoanalyst, died peacefully in the early morning of Nov 4 at her home in the Brentwood Hills of Los Angeles. She was 94. Jean was a brilliant teacher, a devoted and wise clinician and healer, a prolific and gifted writer, and a generous mentor to hundreds of therapists in the U.S. and around the world. For Jean, psychoanalysis did not stop at the walls of the consulting room. She knew how culture impacted and was impacted by personal development. She loved people of diverse cultures as she loved and embraced difference itself. Her community was the whole world. She served as consultant in Peru, Dominican Republic, India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan. President Forbes Burnham of Guyana invited Jean to present a series of talks on national television to build mutual understanding and peace and stem the tide of internecine warfare that was ravaging the country. Her capacity for empathy was boundless. With a generosity of spirit, warmth, and ability to see and respond to the goodness in people, everyone whom Jean touched and who touched her became kindred; “hers.” Her favorite saying was “Life begins in dialogue, and psychopathology can be seen as a derailment of dialogue.” This dialogue was a living emotional reality she embodied daily, not only with patients, but also with students, colleagues, friends, fellow writers, and others.The power of reparative intent was another of her creative lodestars. Genuine dialogue was therapeutic and could help “re-rail” earlier derailments. The ability to play, with ideas and with one another, figured prominently in her writing and teaching, and permeated her relationships. Jean was born on Dec 6 1918 in Tionesta, rural western Pennsylvania. Tionesta is a Native American word that means, “waters meet.” As in her writing and in her mind, where ideas comingled freely -- psychoanalytic, artistic, socio-cultural, political -- so in Jean's house too did countless groups, colleagues and friends find a welcoming space where they came regularly to “multilogue,” where the play of ideas could be engaged freely and take root. Her mother, Ruth Board, was a school principal, and her father Forest Board, a physician. Jean would joyfully accompany her father on home visits at night in horse and buggy. She knew illness and loss early on and her efforts to understand led to disappointment with organized religion, though she conveyed a remarkably profound spirituality. She found Karl Menninger's The Human Mind on her father's bookshelf and reading it catalyzed her interest in pursuing a “new profession,” clinical social work.Jean graduated from University of Colorado, Boulder in 1940, and received her MSW from Smith College School for Social Work in 1949, where she remained on the faculty. Her refusal to sign the required “loyalty” oath, like her friend and colleague Erik Erikson, cost her position as Associate Professor at the UCLA School of Social Welfare but she accepted Erikson's invitation to come to Harvard. Later, as Executive Secretary of the Hacker Foundation for Psychiatric Research and Education, she would study the “intermarriage” of creative expression and personality.Jean was fierce in engaging the struggle for social workers and all non-medical therapists to have the right to full psychoanalytic training. A trailblazing pioneer and organizational midwife, she was co-founder of the California Society for Clinical Social Work, Founding Dean of the California Institute for Clinical Social Work (CICSW), and co-founder of the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS). Such was her scholarship and writing acumen that LAISPS named its most important writing award the Jean Sanville Award, for original scholarship in psychoanalytic writing. In 2005 CICSW was renamed in her honor, the Jean Sanville Institute.
Jean is survived by her sister Alice Board Reynolds, brother-in-law Dr. Dean Reynolds, niece Julie
Bovard Peterson, nephew Dean Lee Reynolds, and her step-children Bob Shor and Heidi
Oleszcuk. She was preceded in death by her son Peter Livermore and her step-daughter Sabrina
Sanville. “All the light…” wrote the Spanish poet Vicente Aleixandre,
“Suddenly gathers, suddenly, in a whole lifetime… that unrolls and unfolds,
like a huge wave, like a huge light that lets us look on each other at last.” Jean Sanville
and her life were just such a light.
~ Joe Bobrow, PhD
With the death of Jean Sanville on November 4, 2013, the social work and psychoanalytic communities have lost an admired and beloved friend, colleague, mentor, teacher, analyst and collaborator. Jean had a long and exceptionally distinguished career. She was on the faculty of the School of Social Welfare at UCLA and Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, Massachusetts for many years. She was a co- founder and first dean of the California Institute for Clinical Social Work (CICSW), a doctoral program in clinical social work, later renamed in her honor, the Sanville Institute for Clinical Social Work. Jean was a founding member, the first social worker in the group, and a training and supervising analyst at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS), where she held the posts of President and Chair of the Committee of Training Analysts in addition to many other positions. The Jean Sanville Award has been a signpost of writing scholarship for LAISPS members for a number of years. Jean was also a prominent figure in the anti-trust lawsuit in 1985 against the American Psychoanalytic Association and the International Psychoanalytical Association for restraint of trade in the exclusion of non-medical mental health professionals from psychoanalytic training in the U.S. The settlement in 1987 represented a ground-breaking shift in the culture of psychoanalysis in this country, and paved the way for the acceptance of LAISPS into membership in the IPA in 1995, in which Jean was a central moving force.
Around the same time, Jean was one among several analysts, along with LAISPS,
from the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR), the New York
Freudian Society (NYFS) and the Psychoanalytic Center for Psychoanalysis (PCC) who
began to talk informally about creating a national organization to represent them in
relationship to the IPA, independent of the APsaA. As a result, she was among the
founders of the coalition of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies of the U.S. (IPS),
now known as the Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies of the U.S.
(CIPS). Along with Norbert Freedman from IPTAR in New York, Jean was co-chair of
the IPS for the first three years of its existence, and remained a member of the
Board of Directors for nearly 10 years. In 2009 Jean was recognized for being
one of the pioneers of CIPS and appointed Life Member. Jean's professional
contributions were endless. Her C.V. of published papers in the social work
and psychoanalytic literature was several pages long. She was a sought-after
teacher and taught several generations of social workers and psychoanalysts,
and her clinical work spanned over five decades with patients of all ages.
She was the coauthor, with Joel Shor, of “Illusion in Loving, A Psychoanalytic
Approach to the Evolution of Intimacy and Autonomy” (1978), and coeditor, with
Joyce Edward, of “Fostering Healing and Growth: A Psychoanalytic Social Work Approach”
(1996). Her book “The Playground of Psychoanalytic Therapy” (1991) was an original
and creative synthesis of contemporary object relations theory and infant observation
research, including the significance of play and playfulness in the clinical setting.
It represented the culmination of decades of her intellectual and emotional devotion
to equality, diversity, understanding and independent thinking. Personally,
Jean was steadfast in her relationships to others, a charming wit, and ever-encouraging
to those who aspired to more accomplishment in writing, teaching and leadership
responsibilities. She will be remembered for her keen intellect and her great professional
achievements, and especially for her grace and generosity in welcoming LAISPS
members and their guests, as well as other groups, for numerous functions in her home.
Jean's home was a meeting place for intellectual dialogues, cultural and political
meetings, random social gatherings, celebrations and more. Jean will be greatly missed and deeply mourned.
~ Terrence McBride, PsyD, FIPA, LAISPS, Los Angeles.
I am deeply saddened by the loss of Jean Sanville, my esteemed colleague and friend.
Jean was “a woman for all seasons” and one of the undisputed leaders
of our profession. I am fortunate in having had the opportunity to personally know more about her creative side and the
keenness of her mind while we were co-editing our book “Therapies
with Women in Transition.” For almost a year, we met at her home every other Thursday evening, enjoyed
the dinner she cooked, and evaluated the clinical articles intended for the book. Then the fun began.
Jean was so open in sharing her world views, her philosophy, and what she foresaw for our field.
We touched on creative approaches to relationalizing psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, the political
and economic state of the world (which depressed both of us), the need for health care, new ideas for
educational programs that would benefit clinicians, the future Columbines if we didn't get rid of guns,
and, of great interest to the two of us, the current status of women and questions about whether the
feminist revolution had yet reached its full potential. In fact, as Editor of the Clinical Social Work
Journal, Jean was instrumental in publishing one of my first articles on women. We resolved to campaign
for Hillary when the time came, and I agreed to make the banners. Needless to say, I was in awe of Jean's
creative ideas and her extensive knowledge and involvement in so many causes. As I look back at my own
satisfying career, those meetings with Jean remain as one of my most valued professional and personal experiences.
Jean contributed to Psychoanalysis and Clinical Social Work in so many ways. She was in the vanguard of helping
Clinical Social Work to achieve the recognition it deserved within the psychoanalytic realm. She was analyst,
teacher, mentor and guide for so many as they evolved in our profession. Many of the AAPCSW Membership were
encouraged by her to write innovative papers - many of which she had published. As AAPCSW Chair of the National
Study Group, Jean was one of my models for how the group could elicit new ideas and meaningful contributions to
the field. The AAPCSW Southern California is also so grateful to Jean for her continuing generosity in opening
her home for so many of our Chapter's meetings and presentations. Indeed, we will never forget that she was the
first to embrace the idea of starting a Chapter in Los Angeles and tirelessly advocated for what was then known
as the Committee on Psychoanalysis. To Alice and Jeannie, and to her many close and dear friends, I,
and the members of the Board of the AAPCSW Southern California Area Chapter, join with you in your
sadness, but know that she will always live in our memories.
~ Ellen Ruderman
