Partners in Confronting Collective Atrocities (PCCA) Wins The Sigourney Award 2019

Joining esteemed individual winners from Argentina, Norway and the United States, Partners In Confronting Collective Atrocities wins the distinguished award recognizing recent advancement in psychanalysis and psychoanalytic thought for the betterment of mankind.

Seattle, WA — July 9, 2020 – The Sigourney Trust has presented its highly prestigious Sigourney Award 2019 to Partners in Confronting Collective Atrocities (PCCA). The Germany-based organization is unique in its location of pain and guilt within the group, rather than in the individual. PCCA represents the extension and application of psychoanalysis to the sphere of social reality and offers a fruitful way of dealing with large scale trauma, beginning with the Holocaust, and extending to other atrocities, victims, and perpetrators.  

While PCCA is a community-based psychoanalytic and social welfare enterprise led by psychanalysts from various countries, it also attracts and recruits many non-analysts. PCCA seeks to positively impact the residual effects of trauma and atrocities on individuals, communities, and national groups.   

PCCA’s method represents a novel amalgamation of psychoanalytic insights with group relations concepts and structure. An underlying principle is the need for each group to do its work in the actual presence of the other. Thus, the work of repairing the effect of these large-scale traumas is done by creating a temporary community where individuals can meet and experience each other directly, rather than project onto the ‘other’ the residual pain and suffering of past trauma. This working method was used successfully with the residual effects of the Holocaust on Germans and Israelis and has been extended and applied by PCCA to other nationality groups. 

“We proudly recognize the PCCA’s courageous approach to facing overwhelming trauma and their innovative integration of psychoanalytic understanding and group influences in addressing the lasting effects of atrocity,” says Dr. William A. Myerson, PhD, MBA, co-trustee of The Sigourney Trust.  “Their organization provides a service that not only aligns with our Trust founder’s wish to create lasting, positive social change but also extends our understanding of how to integrate treatments utilizing the work of Bion, Kline, and Freud,” he added. 

The 2019 winners join a long list of the world’s top talent who, since 1990, have been honored with The Sigourney Award recognizing work that is deemed insightful or ground-breaking, and advancing the understanding or evolution of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought while advancing the public good. The PCCA joins three individuals who won The Sigourney Award 2019, including Dr. Rodolfo Moguillansky from Argentina, Siri Gullestad, PhD, from Norway, and Dr. Henri Parens from the United States. 

“Today, psychoanalysis embraces a range of philosophies, modern clinical theories, social advocacy, culture, art, and research. The Sigourney Award honors the expansion and connection of psychoanalysis to many fields of study and experience through the annual Sigourney Award,” said Dr. Myerson.  

Nominations for the annual award which includes a substantial cash prize are being accepted for work completed within the past 10 years. Applications for The Sigourney Award 2020 can be submitted through Sept. 15, 2020. Visit www.sigourneyaward.org for information and find The Sigourney Award on social platforms including Facebook and LinkedIn @SigourneyAward. 

About The Sigourney Award  

Established by Mary Sigourney in 1989, The Sigourney Award offers independent, international recognition and a substantial cash prize for outstanding work that advances psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic thought. Ms. Sigourney was a psychotherapist, publisher, and community activist who had a passionate interest in psychoanalysis and understood its ability to benefit and extend human conversation across various disciplines. To date, 129 Award Recipients from 21 countries represent her global vision. The Sigourney Award recipients’ ground-breaking work has significantly contributed to human affairs on topics ranging from neuroscience to feminism.  

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