Wilma Bucci, Ph.D.
Co-Director
Leon Hoffman, M.D.
Co-Director
TBD
Chair, IRB
The Pacella Research Center of the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute is the result of the merging of the Research Division of the Pacella Parent Child Center and the NYPSI Research Center.
The Pacella Research Center continues to try to move a research perspective closer to the center of NYPSI’s life in its educational programs and in the practice of psychoanalysis and psychotherapies.
In the report of the American Psychoanalytic Association Site Visiting Committee following their visit to NYPSI in early November 2014, the site visitors noted that the Pacella Parent Child Center is “A model for the country…on the forefront of the future of psychoanalysis.”
We mark the passing, on March 15, 2024, of Bernard Maskit, our eminent colleague, dear friend, and life and work partner of Wilma Bucci. The proceedings of the July 2023 Referential Process Workshop featuring Bernie’s work (see below) will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, scheduled for early 2025.
Pacella Research Center Committee:
Wilma Bucci and Leon Hoffman, Co-Directors; Henry Peterson, Pre-doctoral Fellow; Christopher Christian, Sean Murphy, Tehela Nimroody, Wendy Olesker, Timothy Rice, and Lissa Weinstein.
Click HERE to view the IRB Instructions and Application
Research Activities
1. The first Referential Process Symposium was held at NYPSI for two weeks in July 2023. The hybrid in-person and on-line format enabled participation by researchers and clinicians, including colleagues and students, from Europe and Israel as well as Canada and the U.S. The seminar was organized by Wilma Bucci and Bernard Maskit, and focused on advances in development of the DAAP (Discourse Attributes Analysis Program) as well as new clinical applications.
2. Dr. Negri, a Visiting Scholar with the Pacella Research Center, has developed a more streamlined version of the DAAP measure, called DaapLAB, for use by clinicians and other non-researchers. More about the application, and a link for download, are available here: https://referentialprocess.org/measures/
3. More information, pertaining to the Referential Process project and related developments, can be found at the project’s new website: referentialprocess.org. The website has been designed to provide theory and research concerning the role of the referential process in a psychotherapeutic context, as well as to enable direct user-friendly access to the computerized measures for use by researchers and clinicians alike.
4. The work of Leon Hoffman and colleagues on Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C) (https://www.rfp-c.com/), supported in part by the Pacella Research fund, continues to be very successful. Tracy Prout, the Principal Investigator of the Randomized Control Trial of Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children with Externalizing Behaviors, was awarded for the prize for best Scientific Paper of the year at the American Psychoanalytic Association February 2024 meeting. RFP-C was discussed at a fully subscribed workshop and was included in a symposium on the treatment of irritable children at the October 2023 meeting in New York. In addition, a Randomized Control Trial of RFP-C has begun in Turkey. Sibel Halfon is the Principal Investigator. Can Buyukasik, a candidate at NYPSI and a member of the Center for Regulation Focused Psychotherapy team (and fluent in Turkish), is participating as a supervisor.
5. Tehela Nimroody and colleagues developed a manual to assess defense mechanisms utilized by young children. The manual is available at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/downloadSupplementdoi=10.1080%2F15289168.2018.1565005&file=hicp_a_1565005_sm2717.pdf
Annual Reports
Pacella Research Report – October 2017
Pacella Research Center Annual Report 2017-2018