Members and affiliates of PINC are committed to building community and a culture of learning that is expansive, inclusive, and welcoming. Since our origin, PINC, as a training institute, has been committed to the breadth and depth of psychoanalytic thinking, always attempting to move beyond the constraints of any singular perspective or theory. We believe this orientation inevitably includes participation in contemporary society in meaningful and important ways. Achieving this goal requires that PINC members, individually and in organized groups, work steadily to dismantle personal, interpersonal, cultural, and institutional tethers that re-produce and reinforce structural white supremacy and elitism.
We acknowledge that PINC, like other (psychoanalytic) institutions, has been exclusionary, non-inclusive, and impacted by unconscious (and conscious) bias. There is a history of which we are a part. At this moment in time, we want to try to address this longstanding problem and evolve. This commitment centers on an ongoing pursuit to actively examine and work against biases and inequities in PINC’s established structures and culture, as well as in psychoanalytic theories and practices. Such biases include racial, cultural, and class inequities; gender biases and patriarchal-misogynistic prejudices; homo- and trans-phobias; ableism; generational superiority and ageism.
We intend to mobilize psychoanalytic principles such as facing anxiety, attending to conflict, holding difference, fostering reflective capacities, and working across generations. These efforts, which include changing policies, practices, and behaviors, will contribute to forging a radical transformation that we believe is necessary for psychoanalysis in the 21st century. This growth will happen by addressing barriers—such as time, money, safety, and the pressure to assimilate—that result in exclusion from institutional life. Additionally, this will require an environment that is open, appreciative, self-examining, and values generative conflict.
We believe actualizing this vision will create a vibrant, intellectual, clinical community where individuals can grow and find a sense of belonging.