In the midst of the parades, food, music and unmistakable culture that surround San Antonio’s Fiesta, The American Psychological Association’s Division 39 will host its annual spring meeting aptly themed, “Viva Psychoanalysis – Finding Connections From Couch to Culture.”

Stacey Rubin, a psychotherapist and co-chair for the conference, describes the concept of psychoanalysis as the exploration of unconscious patters of thoughts, beliefs and emotions and they influence our sense of self as well as our relationships with others. As we become more conscious we can then change patterns to lead happier, more meaningful lives.

Rubin added that Division 39 is the area of psychology that deals with psychoanalysis.

According to Rubin, this year’s meeting, which is expecting approximately 300 attendants from all over the world, will focus on multiculturalism and the impact psychoanalysis has on culture and how it is shaped by social context. She said San Antonio is a prime city to discuss these topics.

“We’ll have a discussion of how we construct memory using the model of the Alamo,” Rubin said.

The conference is from April 22-26 at the Hilton Riverwalk. It will offer sections that address many different areas including military and war traumas, addiction, infants and children, homelessness, immigrants and the violence in Mexico, as well as a number of film screenings and panel discussions.

Working with the local branch of Division 39, the San Antonio Society for Psychoanalytical Studies (SASPS), Wayne Ehrisman, Ph.D. and Paul Ingmundson, Ph.D., both of San Antonio, were instrumental in bringing the conference here.

“They worked for almost two years on bringing it to San Antonio,” Rubin said.

This Division 39 conference is held in a different major city, including Miami, Philadelphia and Toronto, every year and in New York City every third year. Because the location sites for the conference rarely repeat, Rubin says this event is “one of a kind maybe once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Because this is the first time a conference like this has come to San Antonio, Rubin believes it is important to the Alamo City.

“San Antonio is a growing city,” Rubin said. “This introduces people from all over the country to how beautiful this city is.”

Among its invited guests are speakers from all over the country, as well as keynote speakers Dr. Salman Akhtar, originally from India who will discuss the healing impact of poetry, Wilma Bucci, Ph.D from New York who will discuss research in psychoanalysis and Dr. Haydee Faimberg of France who will speak on psychic consequences of Nazism.

Along with Fiesta, the conference has a country-and-western dance and social outing to Floores Country Store, a dinner cruise along the Riverwalk and a visit to the San Antonio Museum of Art.