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Prefaces and introductions usually end with a list of thanks, but I would like to begin with thanks: First to the editors of Psychoanalytic Inquiry, Joseph D. Lichtenberg, M.D., and Melvin Bornstein, M.D., and to Associate Editor Daniel Goldin, M.F.T., Psy.D., for inviting the China American Psychoanalytic Alliance (CAPA) to do an issue. This is both an honor and a unique opportunity to introduce our organization and our work to a large part of the world. Then my thanks to the members of the CAPA Board of Directors, Committee chairpersons and members, many of whom have written articles for this issue as the directors of CAPA’s various programs. Then, thanks to the more than 400 members of CAPA for their incredible generosity teaching, treating and supervising—pro bono—the CAPA students. And finally, thanks to the 400 CAPA students and graduates without whose desire to learn about psychoanalytic psychotherapy, CAPA would not have come into existence.
This issue begins with the history of psychoanalysis in China – a topic filled with surprises for most Westerners who know little about this topic. It is followed by an article (by me) on the history of CAPA and a brief introduction to the many things that CAPA does. Many of the articles in this issue are filled with personal anecdotes. One reason is the obvious one. Most of those writing the articles played important roles in the development of CAPA and as directors of CAPA’s various functions. The other reason is—when CAPA began, many people thought it was a crazy idea; some thought it (distance training and treatment in China of all places) was a bad idea, and some thought it was doomed to failure (Osnos, 2011, p. 63). One thing all were curious about was “What is it like to teach or treat or supervise on the internet with someone you have never met ‘in the flesh’ so to speak and who lives in China.” The anecdotal style helps to answer these questions as the authors write about what it is like – in some ways very diffe