Elections - Nominees

Timothy H. Rayner, M.D.

Dr. Rayner graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1987, and from Tulane University School of Medicine, with M.D. and MPH degrees in 1991. Between internship and psychiatry residency, both at Naval Medical Center San Diego, he returned to the Naval Academy as the Flight Surgeon. Following residency, he entered psychoanalytic training at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center, graduating in 2003, while on deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he led a Combat Stress Platoon. He left the Navy and set up private practice in psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in 2004.

He served for over 12 years on both the Board of Directors and the Education Committee of SDPC, where he was co-Director of Education for 6 years and has taught classes every year. Meanwhile, he became involved in the leadership of the American Psychoanalytic Association on both the Executive Council (Board of Directors) and the Board on Professional Standards. In 2018, he became the first Lead Director on the Board of Directors of APsaA, and with that position, Chair of the Governance Committee. He chaired the Expanded Membership Task Force, which produced a Bylaws Amendment which was approved by a supermajority of the Membership of APsaA in February 2022. He has now returned to be more involved locally as President of SDPC.

In the past several months under Dr. Rayner leadership SDPC has introduced new programs, appointed a membership chair, established a bylaw review commitee, is in the process of developing a sucession plan and is working on a strategic plan for the sustainablity of SDPC. As an active member of APsA's leadership team, Dr. Rayner brings a vast amount of board experience to SDPC. He currently serves as the APsA chair of the Bylaws commitee and is a member of several other APsA committees.

Benoit Vincent, LMFT, Ph.D.

Benoit Vincent is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and an Associate in Psychoanalysis. He is part of a group practice at Thrive Coastal Therapy in Carlsbad, CA and is also part of a non-profit community practice, Palomar Family Counseling Service, in Escondido, CA. In addition to his clinical background, Benoit also holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and has successfully managed large 500 Europe companies in his previous professional career. 

Benoit obtained his master in Marriage and Family Therapy from Alliant International University in San Diego, and completed 4 years of advanced training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and academic psychoanalysis at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center (SDPC). He has been a practicing psychotherapist for over six years in various settings, including schools in the North County area of San Diego

As an SDPC board member since 2016, Benoit served as Chair of the Outreach Committee and most recently as the Chair of the Membership and Nomination Committees. He has played a key role in expanding SDPC’s outreach: organizing the SDPC annual fundraising campaign since 2016, and teaching an introductory seminar on the Fundamentals of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Carol Koenisberger. Under his leadership, the Membership Committee reviewed over 30 applications and welcomed 18 new members to SDPC’s community, including reinstating past members who have remained inactive since COVID. With his extensive business background Benoit has been a great asset in making critical financial decisions that have managed to keep SDPC sustainable for the last 5+ years.

Outside of SDPC, Benoit has been running a business coaching practice for the last 10 years. Prior to his psychotherapeutic experience, he spent 30 years as an executive in charge of research and development for a large international corporation based in Carlsbad, after working for the French CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and teaching Mechanical Engineering classes at the master level.