IPSO President
Chrysanthy (Chrissy) Wallace is a psychotherapist and advanced candidate at the Psychoanalytic Training Institute of the Contemporary Freudian Society in Washington, DC. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Music, and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. In private practice in Washington, DC, Chrissy currently works with adults and adolescents, and has previously gained experience in community mental health and college counseling centers. She has presented her clinical work and writing nationally and internationally and is as Assistant Clinical Professor in the George Washington University’s Professional Psychology Program, where she supervises doctoral candidates’ clinical work. With a background in music and theatre, Chrissy is particularly interested in the intersection of psychoanalysis, creativity, and the arts. She participates in a study group that integrates music and psychoanalytic listening.
In leadership, Chrissy serves on the IPA Committee on Women and Psychoanalysis as the North American IPSO Representative, the NAPsaC Board (North American Psychoanalytic Confederation), and the CIPS Board (Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies). She is a former Vice President of the Greater Washington Society for Clinical Social Work. For her institute, Chrissy holds the positions of IPSO Representative and Candidate Organization Representative. She is also the Chair of her IPSO Cross-Regional Study Group, and has a special interest in psychoanalysis as a method of inquiry into leadership and organizational dynamics.
Chrissy has had the opportunity to live and teach in Alsace, France, intern at an NGO in Kolkata, India, and study at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland. She is passionate about the role of IPSO and cross-cultural exchange in the development and growth of analysts-in-training.
IPSO-President@ipso-candidates.org.uk
IPSO President Elect
Deniz Cosan is a psychoanalyst in training at the Istanbul Psychoanalytical Society and currently lives in Sweden, where she works psychoanalytically with adults in her private practice. Deniz earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology in Istanbul and Copenhagen, and her MA in Clinical Psychology in Istanbul, specializing in Adult Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy. She also holds an MSc in Counselling Psychology from the United Kingdom. Her clinical background includes counselling, psychotherapy, and psychological evaluation in psychotherapy and psychiatry clinics, schools and hospitals. She has worked with adults, couples, adolescents, children, families, and LGBTQ+ individuals, both in long-term psychoanalytic treatment and in crisis or short-term settings.
In addition to her clinical work, Deniz Cosan has taught bachelor’s and master’s level courses on psychology, clinical psychology, and psychoanalytical theories at universities. She has also written and translated psychoanalytic articles and presented her clinical and psychoanalytical papers internationally, including at the EPF (European Psychoanalytical Federation) and the IPA (International Psychoanalytical Association) congresses.
As IPSO Representative of the Istanbul Psychoanalytical Association for four years, she and her team organized 20 IPSO events with theoretical, clinical, and social components. These included study days with internationally renowned analysts, author interviews, psychosocial support groups, and collaborative events with other IPSO teams. This work led to the organization of the 28th IPSO Annual European Meeting in Istanbul (2024), held under the theme “A Shattered World: Echoes of the Unspoken in Psychoanalysis.”
Beyond her professional career, she has long been engaged in the arts; singing, playing musical instruments, acting, dancing, and painting. She places particular emphasis on the themes of immigration and cultural differences. Within IPSO, her aim is to create an inclusive and globally connected experience.
IPSO Vice President For Europe
Paola Solano was born and raised in Genova, Italy. She is psychiatrist, psychotherapist and is an analyst- in- training at the Institute of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI) in Milan.
She completed a European Doctorate in Clinical and Experimental Neurosciences working in Genova/ UCL London where she did a Post Doc project focusing on psychoanalytic aspects in the suffering of multiple suicide attempters. She is member of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) and trained with the Aeschi Group in Bern and Boston. During her doctorate program she did a research internship period at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and at the Kyoto University. She was Subject Expert in Psychosis at La Sapienza University, Rome, and at the University of Genova, Genova. Paola did a Master in Psychopharmacology of Psychosis at the King’s College, London and is member of the British Association of Psychopharmacology. She did a Master in Scientific Writing and residential scholarship at the Aalborg University, Denmark. She attended two years of high school in Germany. Paola worked several years in a public service for the psychotherapy of adolescents at the University Hospital of the University of Genova. In her psychoanalytic education she had long term supervisions with Italian, British, American and Israeli psychoanalysts.
Her interest, work and research focus on the psychoanalysis of psychosis and unrepresented mental states. She works analytically also with traumatized adolescents and adults in private practice. Paola is interested in cross- cultural psychoanalysis and in developing cross- cultural dialogues between colleagues to promote the flourishing of deeper human and scientific understanding to become emotionally richer people working together.
Paola speaks English, French and German together with some Spanish and Japanese.
IPSO Vice President Elect For Europe
Kateryna Alpatova is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and candidate member of the Ukrainian Psychoanalytic Society (IPA study group). She is also full member of the Ukrainian Association of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapies (collective member of EPPP) and the current Head of the Kharkiv Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy.
Kateryna was born in Ukraine, in the city of Kharkiv. With the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she was forced to move to Poltava.
She received her master’s degree in psychology with honors from V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, where she also completed her postgraduate studies and developed the topic “Structural-dynamic features of the mythological experience of personality” (2002-2007).
From 2002 to 2006, Kateryna took a theoretical and supervisory training course on “Theory and Practice of Psychoanalytically Oriented Psychotherapy” at the Kharkiv Regional Psychoanalytic Society. She subsequently completed a full course of theoretical and supervisory training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and became a full member of the Ukrainian Association of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists from 2012 to 2016. She has also subsequently completed the theoretical program for the Ukrainian Psychoanalytic Society (2019-2023) and is now a UPS candidate for the IPA.
Kateryna has been in private practice with adults since 2015. She is interested in Kleinian theory and has participated in the Ukrainian-British Psychoanalytic Seminar (2012-2024) and been a participant in the Clinical Kleinian Seminar, both under the auspices of the Melanie Klein Trust (since 2015). Additionally, she is part of the supervisory group with David Simpson (since 2024) as well as the seminar “Theory and Practice of the Kleinian Tradition” (led by Romanov I., since 2013).
Kateryna also enjoys social activities and is the organizer of the Kharkiv Theoretical Group (since 2012), she was also Ukraine’s representative in IPSO from 2020 to 2025. As part of her collaboration with IPSO, Kateryna has successfully organized two major conferences—IPSO Study Days Ukraine—which brought together over 150 participants from more than 40 countries around the world. This collaboration has done much to support Ukrainian candidates during the war, allowing colleagues from around the world to be both speakers and participants, offering them a space to talk about important contemporary topics.
Kateryna loves to travel to discover new places and cultural diversity. She also enjoys distracting herself from emotional and intellectual work by engaging in manual activities such as handicrafts, embroidery, and ceramics.
IPSO Vice President For Latin America
María Lucila Lusnich is a psychologist, graduated from the Universidad del Salvador in 2012 with honors. She began her professional experience in psychoanalysis in private practice with adults patients. My training in Psychoanalysis started at Centro Dos (Civil Association for the Assistance and Teaching of Psychoanalysis) graduating as “Adults Clinic Specialist in Psychoanalysis” in December 2014. Until 2017 she integrated the Theoretical Research and Clinical Training Device.
In the meantime, from 2013 to 2020 she participated as an intern at the Bernardino Rivadavia Hospital (BsAs) within the Eating Disorders Team (Dr. Alejando Ferreira Service – Coordinator Lic. Andrea Pierri). She was one of the psychoanalytic therapists in the Obesity therapeutic group. At the same time, she worked as a teaching Assistant in the seminar “Tutored Professional Clinical Practice” at Universidad del Salvador. During these years she participated in various national and international congresses presenting the work in the public hospital setting. She also worked as an integrative teacher in two educational institutions. Maria Lucila also completed the Rorschach Psychodiagnostic Diploma at the University of Belgrano (2018-Bs. As) and conducted psychodiagnoses and job interviews. In 2021, she trained in Psychosomatic Clinic at the Fernando Ulloa Center (Buenos Aires).
Subsequently she undertook the Psychoanalytic Training at the IUSAM (University Institute of Mental Health) of APDEBA (Asociación psicoanalítica de Buenos Aires). She was the IPSO Representative in APdeBa and a member of the Analysts in training Staff. She presented in the APDEBA SIMPOSIUM in 2022 and in the IPSO-OCAL-ABC meeting. Maria Lucila works with adolescents, adults and older adults. She speaks Spanish, English and basic Portuguese (intermediate comprehension).
IPSO Vice President Elect For Latin America
Socorro López is a psychologist who graduated from La Salle University in Pachuca. She completed a Master’s degree in Psychoanalytic Research at the Mexican Association for the Practice, Research, and Teaching of Psychoanalysis (AMPIEP), and is currently an analyst in training at the same institution, where she completed her seminars in July 2025. Throughout her training, she has maintained a constant commitment to clinical practice, rigorous theoretical study, and institutional participation.
For three years, she was AMPIEP’s representative to OCAL, an experience that allowed her to collaborate in the organization of national conferences in Mexico. In these spaces, analysts in training from different IPA institutes would meet to share experiences, discuss theoretical and clinical material, and strengthen dialogue among peers.
She has actively participated in events organized by various IPSO and OCAL boards, recognizing them as a key tool for professional and institutional development. Her interest in international exchange has also been reflected in her academic work: she has published in IPSO’s Insights magazine with texts related to cinema and literature, and in OCAL’s Transformación magazine with the article entitled “Fitness culture and its relationship with the pathology of Passing to the Act.”
She is fluent in Spanish and English and has shown a genuine interest in learning Portuguese as a fundamental cultural bridge within psychoanalysis in Latin America. Throughout her career, she has been recognized for her ethics, clinical responsibility, enthusiasm for training, and her firm commitment to the institutional values of the IPA and IPSO.
IPSO Vice President For North America
Mary Sacco is a candidate at the Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society and
Institute in Seattle, Washington. She holds a Masters degree in Existential
Phenomenological Psychology from Seattle University and a Masters in Liberal
Studies from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM. Her pre-licensure experience
includes work as a home-based specialist with families and children, a
behavioral management specialist in a residential treatment center for violent
adolescents, and counselor of seriously mentally disturbed adults in an inpatient
psychiatric hospital. She now has a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy practice in
Seattle. She serves on the Art Salon Committee and is an honorary faculty
member of the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. For the past two
years she has enjoyed being the IPSO representative for her institute.
Growing up in rural Maryland inspired an interest in art and nature. She enjoys
painting landscapes in her free time and appreciates the welcoming space
psychoanalysis provides for creativity to flourish and primitive mental states to
be understood. Her connection to nature has also lead to an interest in the
impact climate change has on the psyche and on one’s ability to feel at home in
the world.
ipso-northAmerica@ipso-candidates.org.uk
IPSO Vice President Elect For North America
Xiaofeng W. Koswatta is a psychoanalytic candidate at the American Institute for Psychoanalysis (AIP) in New York City, USA. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook and is currently licensed as a Clinical Social Worker(LCSW) in New York State, US. Xiaofeng worked at the Bellevue Hospital Psychiatric Unit in New York City from 2021 to 2025, and currently has a private practice in New York City.
She is interested in working with both adult and adolescent clients, particularly focusing on issues related to gender, sexuality, life transition, career-related stress, and immigration. She is also interested in the application of psychoanalysis in community and hospital settings for individuals with severe mental health challenges.
Xiaofeng transitioned from a decade-long career in international agricultural business in Shanghai, China, to pursue psychoanalysis. Before her training at the AIP in New York, she received psychoanalytic training in China and completed 4 years of training at the China-American Psychoanalytic Training Program in Wuhan. She is certified as a psychotherapist in Shanghai. Additionally, she has participated in the Tavistock Approach Infant Observation program for two years. She also received extensive training in psychodynamic group therapy as well as Yalom group therapy before beginning her psychoanalytic training.
From 2023 to 2025, Xiaofeng served as the Treasurer of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA) Candidate Council. She is an ex-officio member of the APsA Finance Committee and the American Psychoanalytic Foundation (APF). She will become a permanent voting member of the APF after her Treasurer term ends. Xiaofeng presented at the APsA Annual meeting in Boston in 2022, focusing on her work with severely mentally ill patients at Bellevue Hospital Center. Having immigrated from China to the United States, she currently resides in New York City and is fluent in both English and Mandarin.
ipso-northAmerica@ipso-candidates.org.uk
IPSO Treasurer
Luz Cárdenas is a clinical psychologist and did her training at the Psychoanalytic Institute Berlin (PaIB) of the German Psychoanalytic Society (DPG).
After graduating in Psychology from the Humboldt University in Berlin, she completed a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at the Medical School Berlin. During her year of psychiatric work, she worked mainly with affective disorders (bipolar disorder) and patients with substance abuse.
Luz organized with other candidates at her institute, events with supervisors from other regions and participated in several IPSO initiatives. Her areas of study and research include linguistics in conjunction with psychoanalysis, sign language, gender studies, migration, and literature. After working for several years in a rehabilitation clinic with patients from the former East Germany, she now has her private practice in Berlin.
IPSO-Treasurer@ipso-candidates.org.uk
IPSO Treasurer Elect
Filippo Maria Moscati is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and a current candidate at the Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI). His professional journey began with medical studies and a specialization in psychiatry at Sapienza University in Rome, where he graduated with top honors in 2016.
Earlier in his career, from 2016 to 2018, he served as Medical Director of a therapeutic community, where he developed programs for residents with complex mental health needs. In 2019, he worked as a consultant psychiatrist in a psychiatric secure unit, supporting individuals under judicial and therapeutic mandates. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Multifamily Psychoanalysis Groups in 2020, enriching his clinical approach and allowing him to integrate systemic, psychodynamic, and psychoanalytic perspectives into his practice.
His clinical work has focused primarily on treating adolescents and young adults, with a particular emphasis on substance use disorders. From 2019 to July 2025, he served as a permanent psychiatrist in a specialized service for addictions in Rome. In this role, he also led a working group responsible for managing the budget for patient referrals to therapeutic communities, bringing together clinical and economic considerations to optimize expenditures and ensure that residential treatment programs were both cost and therapeutically effective. His research in this field led to the publication of the article “To crave or not to crave? – How craving for substances of abuse could be related to transgenerational identifications”, which won the Second IPSO Prize at the EPF 2024 in Florence. Since July 2025, he has been working at a community mental health center, also in Rome.
Beyond his clinical roles, Dr. Moscati is deeply committed to education and mentorship. Between 2020 and 2022, he was Scientific Secretary at L.I.P.S.I.M., where he coordinated scientific events and supported research initiatives, since 2021, he has also been a lecturer in Multifamily Psychoanalysis in their Masters Program and in various public health services across Italy. In 2024, he began teaching psychiatry at Sapienza University of Rome within the Nursing Degree Program.
His involvement with IPSO has been a key element of his professional growth. From 2022 to 2024, he represented his training institute, participating in Cross Regional Study Groups and “Meet the Analyst” sessions, fostering exchange and collaboration among psychoanalytic candidates worldwide.
Throughout his career, he has been guided by the belief that resources—whether financial, educational, or relational—are not merely practical tools but represent a generational legacy that supports development as candidates and future psychoanalysts. This perspective informs his clinical work, teaching, and community engagement, with a focus on creating environments where dialogue, connection, and healing can thrive.
IPSO Editor
Manuel Ortega is a licensed clinical psychologist, and holds a master’s degree on Chinese Art. He is also a psychoanalyst in training at the Freudian Society of Mexico City where he’s been an IPSO representative for a year. Always interested in the social and cultural aspects and how they reflect on the subject’s psyche, this has guided his trajectory which encompasses work in a wide range of communities and private and public institutions. He participated in a programme to ease the process of inmates being reintegrated in society and later worked in the Mexican Secretariat of Public Security as supervisor of groups dedicated to assessing psychological risks in the police force. He helped develop an instrument to measure resilience in the Mexican population, created a workshop for preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation in university and collaborated in the creation of a psychological assistance line in an insurance company. Manuel has also been part of the organizing committees of international and regional psychological congresses and events. Some of his interests pertaining psychoanalysis are the interaction between culture, gender and subjectivity; the history and development of psychoanalysis in Asia Pacific and the representation of space in the psyche. He currently lives in Mexico City, fully dedicated to his private practice, working with adolescents and adults.
IPSO-Editor@ipso-candidates.org.uk
IPSO Editor Elect
Salvatore Giannone is a psychologist, child/adolescent/family psychotherapist, and psychoanalyst in training based in Rome. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Developmental and Educational Psychology at Sapienza University of Rome, and was a visiting student at the Eisenberg-Spinrad Lab and School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University (2009).
In 2016, he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Infant Observation Studies – Working with Children, Young People and Families: A Psychoanalytic Observational Approach (CSMH-Tavistock Clinic, University of East London), followed by clinical training as a psychotherapist (Tavistock model) in Florence. Since 2020, he has been an advanced candidate at the Psychoanalytic Training Institute of the Italian Psychoanalytical Society (SPI).
For over a decade, Salvatore has worked in both institutional and private settings, including within the San Raffaele Institute in Rome, public health services, juvenile and ecclesiastical courts, and educational programs. He also served as a board representative for the Volunteer Associations Office of the Lazio Region (2010–2012), and has supported early intervention training within educational services in both Lazio and Tuscany.
His clinical and research interests include early intervention in childhood, child protection, child-adult interaction, primitive mental states, and parental competence.
Actively involved in IPSO, Salvatore has served as IPSO representative for his training institute (2022–2024), supported Visiting Candidate Programs, and contributed to the organization of numerous IPSO events and EPF conferences. He is currently chair of the organizing team for the 29th IPSO European Meeting in Rome (2025).
Passionate about travel, Salvatore enjoys discovering unfamiliar cultures and hidden stories, often overlooked by foreign visitors. He also enjoys literature, cinema, and walking through the historical neighborhoods of Rome and other cities in the world.
