President's Report

NCSPP was created a little over 35 years ago. This makes us a relatively new kid on the block among the psychoanalytic training organizations in the Bay Area. However, NCSPP has existed long enough that aspects of the culture and procedures can feel entrenched. Recently, NCSPP sought an outside assessment of the organization's diversity, equity, and inclusion at the leadership level. The report found an organization with a rich history of volunteers joined by a love of psychoanalytic theory and a shared commitment to creating a professional home. This sentiment was especially true for members who are unaffiliated with other analytic institutions. Additionally, the consultants commended NCSPP's innovative and creative programming and resolute commitment to change.

The consultants identified that while our dedication to diversity was adamant, it lacked realistic, achievable goals. The findings also revealed an organization with a perceived bias toward recruiting like-minded members who trend younger, politically liberal, and White. This affinity bias makes many board and committee members feel like an outsider. Additionally, a consensus culture makes it difficult to take risks in discussing race or in voicing dissenting opinions. As in many psychoanalytic organizations, there is a perennial conflict between process and action. With the report in hand, I began my tenure as president with an explicit aim: to create and implement measurable progress toward dismantling institutional racism within NCSPP's training and administrative structures — a lofty goal indeed.

Now that I am halfway through my presidential term, it is an apt time for reflection. I strove for transparency about the success in shifting the board culture to support difficult conversations about race and privilege and the disarray caused by change and the disruption of programming. NCSPP is constructing a demographic survey to accurately reflect our membership and develop concrete goals for diversity and in