Member involvement is crucial to the Society's success! Currently, the Society has several committees looking for new members (see below). The time commitment is minimal and provides opportunity to connect with others while shaping the Society's programming or serving the community. For more information about how to get connected, please email office@denverpsychoanalytic.org.

Continuing Education Committee -- collaborates with potential instructors to arrange both in-person and virtual classes. Classes vary in topic and length. 

Diversity in Psychoanalysis Committee -- recently helped organize a small group to discuss the Holmes Commission Report and participated as discussants for the film series. In the past, this committee has organized book discussion groups for a variety of titles like Homegoing, Heavy: An American Memoir, and Caste: The Origins of our Discontents. Additional programs may be developed. 

School Consultation Committee -- provides pro bono volunteer community service in/for local schools in two different ways. 1) Education: Courses and Discussion Groups on emotional growth and development for school directors, teachers, or parents. 2) Consultation: Meeting with school directors, teachers, or parents to help children develop their full potential. 

Dr. George Hartlaub passed away on July 1, 2024. Dr. Hartlaub was a past Society member and completed analytic training at the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis.

 In Memoriam: George H. Hartlaub, M.D., 1930-2024

Colorado has lost a beloved teacher and clinician in the field of psychiatry and allied mental health practices. George Hartlaub, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, died peacefully at the age of 93 on July 1. He had completed nearly 60 years of devoted service as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at CU Anschutz School of Medicine where he won recognition as an outstanding teacher/clinician with special interests in group therapy and human development.         

George was born in 1930 in Chicago, the eighth of ten children. Following high school, he entered the St. Louis Province of the Marianist Society where he engaged in strict Catholic religious training, vows and practice.  He left the Marianist Brothers equipped with wide-ranging spiritual talents combined with an enduring skepticism regarding dogmatism of all kinds.

 He graduated from the University of Dayton, majoring in mathematics, in 1951 and received his M.D. degree from the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in 1955. After completing his residency training in psychiatry at Colorado State Hospital in Pueblo, he entered private practice in Denver and completed his analytic training at the Denver Institute for Psycho-analysis.

A perpetually curious innovator, George frequently questioned the limited perspectives of classical psycho-analysis and became one of the founding faculty members of an alternative analytic institute in Denver which accepted master’s level practitioners from social work, family therapy, nursing and psychology. This institute and its students questioned the validity and usefulness of the analyst as a “blank screen” and emphasized the importance of a new, more empathic, real relationship as most salient in the healing process.

Along with Drs. Mark Rhine and Gary Martin, George coauthored a article entitled “Recontacts with the Analyst following Termination: A Survey of 71 Cases.” George continued to delight in hearing about the life journeys of his former patients. For him, “termination” was a rather negative descriptor applied to ending such an intimate and personal relationship. Better to say “graduation,” with the implication that occasional brief reunions were welcome.

In the context of increasing incidents and media coverage of therapeutic boundary violations, George and his second wife, Dr. Joan Shapiro, became founding members of a monthly men’s and women’s consultation group which focused on gender issues in psychotherapy. Their collaboration and the evocative discussions in this group led to the publication of a relevant, timely and subtly humorous book, Men: A Translation for Women, written by Dr. Shapiro and published in 1992.

Fascinated by neural network theory and the complexities of memory, George collaborated with Drs. James Grigsby and Dr. David Stevens at the University of Denver in researching the distinctions between procedural and declarative memory processes and their manifestations in psychodynamic psychotherapy. These findings were published by Grigsby and Stevens in The Neuro-Dynamics of Personality in 2001.

George was active in the Men’s Leadership Alliance, which used the practices, rituals and prayers of Indigenous Americans and the writings of Rilke, Hanh, Keene, Bly and others to better understand the nature of contemporary manhood and the mentoring of elders. Their activities and annual retreats in the Rocky Mountains gave birth to numerous leaders of the men’s movement and deepened relationships between fathers and sons.

While raising his family and mentoring residents and colleagues he took graduate courses in DU’s Korbel Institute for International Relations where he developed a life-long interest in foreign affairs.  George read prodigiously and loved to travel, play guitar, drum, sing pop tunes, hike, snowshoe and ski well into his 80s in and around his second home in Salida, CO accompanied by his family members, co-workers and close friends.

Several years ago, George retired from psychiatric practice but, persistent in his desire to teach and help others, he became certified as a personal life coach and maintained an active practice into his late 80s.     

George was a deeply spiritual person, teacher and an inspiring elder for all who knew him. He often quoted the saying: Ubi caritas et amor, ibi Deus est. (Where there is charity and love, God is there.)  For many, including this writer, being with George was a touching experience of loving kindness.

George and several other mental health professionals founded a monthly men’s group which has lasted for over 35 years, which for many has become like a second family. Members of group recently described him as warm, affectionate, always eager to learn, a superbly empathic listener and an enduring model for facing mortality with gratitude, dignity and compassion for others.

He is survived by his daughter Maureen and sons Mark and Steve from his first marriage, by his second wife, Dr. Joan Shapiro, and their daughter Laura. At the time of his passing, he left over 60 grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews and their children.

May his memory be a blessing. 

Respectfully submitted,
John S. Graves, M.D. APA Life Fellow
July 18, 2024

Cynthia Rose, MD passed away on the morning of June 21, 2023 at the age of 87.

Dr. Rose is an alumna of Tufts University and Boston University Medical school, and performed her medical internship at the San Francisco Medical Center and her fellowship and adult and child psychiatric residencies at the University or Colorado in Denver. Upon moving to Colorado Springs in 1969, she served as the Medical Director of the Pikes Peak Mental Health Center. Her education continued with board certification in psychiatry and psychoanalytic training. She remained active professionally until the time of her death.

Positions of distinction include her leadership as the first woman president of the Colorado Psychiatric Society, western region president of the American Psychiatric Society, and President of the Denver Psychoanalytic Society.

Click here for the full obituary and information about the CO memorial service on July 30th. 

Brian was selected as the 2024 recipient of the Ernst and Gertrude Ticho Memorial Award and Lecture.

The Ernst and Gertrude Ticho Memorial Award and Lecture recognizes and fosters the work of a promising early- to mid-career psychoanalyst who has made contributions to the field through teaching, writing, research, and applied and/or clinical work.

Brian is the first clinical social worker - or masters-level psychoanalyst - to receive this award. He will be presenting a paper entitled "Porosity and Preoccupation: Queer Thoughts on Psychoanalytic Care” at APsA's 2024 National Meeting in New York City in February 2024.

The award committee found his personal statement riveting because of his dedication to practicing psychoanalysis clinically and promoting and using psychoanalytic knowledge beyond the consulting room, specifically in his effective work with homeless populations.

His illustrative publications include:

• Ngo-Smith, B.R. (2018). This couch has bed bugs: On the psychoanalysis of homelessness and the homelessness of psychoanalysis. Clinical Social Work Journal, Vol 46(1), pp. 26-33.
• Smith, B.R. (2008). The examined life: Personal therapy and the social worker's ethical obligations to self. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertation and Theses. (UMI No. 1453791)

The Ticho Lecture was inaugurated in June 2006 with the generous support of the Ernst and Gertrude Ticho Charitable Foundation. View past Ticho Memorial Lecture Winners.

Brian Ngo-Smith, LCSW, BCD-P, FABP is a psychoanalyst and clinical social worker in Denver, CO. He received his MSW from the University of Iowa and has worked in the mental health field for 20 years, first in residential and hospital settings and later in community mental health before moving into private practice in 2018. Brian completed post-grad training at the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis in 2022, where he is now on faculty, and he also teaches at the Sue Fairbanks Academy through the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. Brian is the current President of the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work (AAPCSW).

Brian will be presenting his award-winning paper as part of the 2023-2024 Society lecture series. Click here for more information or to register (when available).

Richard Clyde Simons

AUGUST 21, 1933 – APRIL 24, 2023

IN THE CARE OF

Olinger Hampden Mortuary, Cremation & Cemetery

RICHARD CLYDE SIMONS, MD; “DICK”

Richard was born on August 21, 1933 in South Bend, Indiana and died on April 24, 2023 at the age of 89. He inherited his sense of humor and his work ethic from his father, Clyde Simons (a farmer, a pilot, and a pharmacist) and his love of tennis, theatre, and music from his mother, Rose Moore (oldest child of immigrant parents from Hungary). Both parents were committed to education. Richard attended Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana and excelled in tennis, theatre, academics, and leadership. After three years at Notre Dame, he was accepted to Northwestern Medical School in Chicago, and later received his psychiatric training at the Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka, Kansas. He wisely married his teenage sweetheart, Barbara Elaine Buettell, in June 1961, and off they went for two years in the Army Medical Corps at Valley Forge Psychiatric Hospital (near Philadelphia) and then Fort Devans Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic (near Boston). Their first daughter (Lisa) was born in Boston. Psychoanalytic training and two more children (Michael and Kimberly) occupied them during their twelve years in Brooklyn. Happy times, wonderful friends, and hard work followed. Moving to Denver in 1976 was the next step it their journey. Barbara subsequently became a renowned and beloved piano teacher in Colorado.

Richard received Life Achievement Awards from the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Colorado Psychiatric Society, and the Menninger School of Psychiatry. At the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, he was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry, pioneering behavioral health education for all medical students. There were other awards as well, but he was most proud of his wife, their three children, and their two grandchildren, Hunter and Sydney Mayhew. Richard hoped to be fondly remembered by all of them (he is!). Regarding his scientific publications, there were three that he felt were most special: the 3rd edition of a textbook for medical students: “Understanding Human Behavior in Health and Illness” in 1985 and two papers for his psychoanalytic colleagues: “The Life and Art of Gustav Vigeland” in 1984 and “The Lawsuit Revisited” in 2003. He is predeceased by his wife Barbara, who died in November 2020, and is survived by his children Lisa Simons (Bill) of Greenville, TX, Michael Simons (Rossy) of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Kimberly Patterson (Mark) of Nederland, CO and grandchildren Hunter and Sydney Mayhew . In lieu of flowers, please donate to Tru Hospice of Boulder Colorado.

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Peter Buirski, PhD. Peter passed away on Monday, December 26th.

He had been a valued Society member since 1991 and Institute faculty member since 1994. He will be missed.

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Peter Buirski was born February 7, 1944 in New York City. He spent his early life in both New York and Johannesburg. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from Adelphi University in 1969 and immediately joined the faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York) where he served as Chairman of the Psychology Department from 1979-1983. Concurrently he completed Psychoanalytic Training at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health in New York City where he served as Dean from 1983-1988.

In 1991, Peter was recruited by the University of Denver to become the Director of the Graduate School of Professional Psychology. In 1993 he became the first Dean and served in that role until 2012. He was also on faculty of the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis. He especially enjoyed teaching and supervising and forged many close relationships with students and faculty. Peter taught and lectured both nationally and internationally. Early in his career, Peter studied and wrote about animal behavior. He worked with baboons in Kenya and chimpanzees with Jane Goodall in Gombe. In his private practice, Peter cared deeply for his patients.

As a clinician, his scholarly work has focused on Intersubjective Systems. He published many journal articles and several books and is the co-author of Making Sense Together, which has been translated into other languages.

View Full Obituary

While no obituary has been released, we wanted to make you aware of the passing of Fred Mimmack, MD. Dr. Mimmack died on Thursday, November 10, 2022, in his home surrounded by family.

Dr. Mimmack received both his undergraduate and medical education at Stanford University, graduating with his MD in 1957. His internship and psychiatric training were done at the University of Colorado Medical Center followed by serving as Chief of the Mental Health Consultation Service at Fitzsimons Army Hospital from 1961-1963. He worked as a staff psychiatrist at both the Wardenburg Student Health Service at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Colorado Women’s College of Denver through the 60’s and 70’s. As a professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Dr. Mimmack’s excellence in teaching earned him numerous awards. He won the Outstanding Medical Clinical Faculty Award (UCSHS) in 1976, the Second Annual Eleanor A. Steele Award for Excellence in Teaching Award in 1983, and the Jay Scully, M.D. Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1993, to name a few.

In 1986, Dr. Mimmack graduated from the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis. Upon graduation, he joined the Institute Faculty teaching diverse courses such as: theory of dreams, adult development, traumatic overstimulation, the development of gender identity, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. In 1995, he developed and chaired a Study Group on Psychoanalysis and Homosexuality.

Dr. Mimmack was also a long-time member of the Society. He served as reviewer of the Society Newsletter for many years and organized the Film Series in the early 2000’s. Dr. Mimmack’s salon What the Horse Whisperer Taught the Psychoanalyst was so well received, he was asked back to do several more salons along this same vein. The Society was honored to be a part of Dr. Mimmack’s last film discussion of The Boys of ‘36 in April 2022.

Dr. Jacob Jacobson wrote this about Dr. Mimmack (1997), “I consider him an outstanding psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and a distinguished colleague and teacher who has made noteworthy contributions to psychiatry and to psychiatric education, as well as to the psychoanalytic and broader general communities. He represents well our highest ideals of professional excellence, integrity, and dedication.” Fred Mimmack, MD was an integral part of both the Institute and Society for many years, and he will be dearly missed! 

George L. Mizner MD (92) died peacefully in his Vail home on September 14, 2022 surrounded by his family.

Dr.Mizner was a graduate in the first class of the Denver Institute in the late 60’s. Other members of his class included John Kelly, Bob Emde, David Metcalf and Sam Wagonfeld.

He began life in Old Europe Vienna, not far from the birthplace of psychoanalysis near Berggasse. After fleeing the Nazi occupation, he settled first in England, then in New York. Before settling in Colorado in 1963, he attended Antioch College, Rochester Medical School, did a Yale Pediatric Residency, before switching to the University of Rochester Residency in Psychiatry. From 1961 to 1963 he served two years in airforce service in Bitberg, Germany. There, he discovered that if he did not allow the airforce access to his records, all kinds of people came for therapy, with the certainty of confidentiality.

Dr. Mizner initially practiced psychoanalysis during his academic years at the Colorado Psychiatric Hospital, (now UCHSC) Outpatient Clinic, as well as supervising first year Psychiatric Residents. He was recognized for his enthusiastic teaching methods, and welcoming style to young physicians.

Upon entering private practice, he continued in the psychoanalytic method, and included other treatment modalities for his many patients. He also lead the Colorado Psychiatric Society in many capacities, including President.

Dr. Mizner will be remembered by this colleagues, friends and patients for his intellect, insatiable curiosity, sense of humor, and passion for life’s many gifts.

He is survived by his current wife, Carolyne Smith, daughters Gail and Susan, and three grandchildren. His first wife Joanne predeceased him.

Memorial is scheduled for October 9 in Vail. 

We are saddened by the death of Stuart Plummer, Ph.D. on December 15, 2021, as reported in the Denver Post on December 21, 2021.

Familiarly known as Stu Plummer, Dr. Plummer received a PhD, in theological studies from Princeton University. In 1960, Stu Plummer created the Department of Pastoral Education and Care at Presbyterian Medical Center in Denver and served in various leadership roles including being a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Supervisor of CPE students.

Dr. Plummer studied alongside psychoanalytic candidates and received a diploma in Applied Psychoanalytic Studies in 1981 from the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis.

At Presbyterian, Stu created a psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, role-responsive, non-denominational framework for the work of the chaplaincy students. These students on the front lines of care applied these concepts to their work with injured and dying patients and families in the emergency room and hospital floors.

Dr. Mary Ann Levy whom Dr. Plummer recruited to provide psychoanalytic/psychiatric consultation for the chaplaincy students, recalled her experiences with Stu, his students and the program: “I worked with many chaplains over nearly twenty years in a case discussion group and found their skills exemplary as a result of Stu Plummer and his colleagues. It was an honor to work with him in classes as we discussed complex medical, psychiatric and emotional needs. He left a legacy of many compassionate and competent pastoral counselors and was an impressive person who generated skilled chaplains who understood and utilized psychoanalytic principles where relevant.”

Stu was active in the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) and served in Regional Director and Interim Executive Director roles. He was awarded the ACPE 2001 Distinguished Service Award for his contributions and leadership as an ACPE Supervisor.

After retiring from chaplaincy training, he had a private practice in Denver. In his spare time, Stu enjoyed reading, listening to music, watching sports, skiing, fishing, hiking with family, playing basketball, squash, and tennis. He loved to sing and will be remembered for his beautiful voice.

Stu was preceded in death by his parents F. Arnold and Phebe S. Plummer and his wife Maxine (Glaz). He is survived by his wife Agnes Bourne; his former wife Sally; his children (with Sally) Sarah (Lisa) Davis, David, and Nancy; his stepdaughter Rachel Walaskay and step-granddaughters Kylie Squires and Sara Squires.

A private graveside service for family is planned for the spring or early summer. In lieu of flowers, consider making a donation to a charity of your choice in his name.

Click here to read the Obituary from Denver Post & Legacy.com