In a major action, the Executive Council, at its meeting on May 4, recommended adoption of a By-Law Amendment that would establish a category of “Special Member” for non-medical Training and Supervising Analysts. The Amendment, which is to be submitted to the membership of the Association for a vote by mail ballot, was recommended to Council in the report of an Ad-Hoc Committee chaired by Dr. David Beres (other members: Drs. Sidney Berman, Stanley Goodman, Charles Kligerman, and Samuel J. Sperling).
Council's action was the culmination of several years of study as to how to offer some form of recognition to a number of non-physician analysts who have long been engaged in training and supervision. There are eleven such analysts, distributed among 6 Institutes. (In addition, there are 2 non-physician training analysts, Mrs. Berta Bornstein and Miss Helen Ross, who are Honorary Members of the Association, and 3 others, Mrs. Beata Rank, Robert Waelder, Ph.D., and David Brunswick, Ph.D., who were appointed prior to 1947 and hold regular membership.)
A prior Committee, chaired by Dr. Douglas Bond, had recommended regular membership for this group. Council had at first approved this proposal but later reversed itself and the recommendation was never submitted to a vote by the members. The feeling persisted, however, that even though regular membership might not be appropriate, some form of recognition was called for, and in 1965, Dr. Heinz Kohut, who was then President of the Association, appointed a new Ad Hoc Committee for Non-Medical Training and Supervising Analysts under the chairmanship of Dr. Beres. The Committee was instructed “to suggest a suitable form of ‘recognition’ for the approximately ten non-medical training and supervising analysts” now active in the teaching programs of a number of Institutes. It was this Committee whose report was approved by Council at the Detroit meeting.
Under the By-Law Amendment recommended by the Committee and approved by Council, those eligible for Special Membership are defined as Training and Supervising Analysts not otherwise eligible for regular membership, whose appointments have been approved by the Board on Professional Standards and who have rendered “outstanding service” within the Association. The Amendment sets forth procedures for election to Special Membership. It specifies that Special Members may participate in the scientific activities of the Association but may not vote or hold elective office, though they may be appointed to non-elective offices and committees. Dues of Special Members is set at one-half that of regular members.
The proposal of Dr. Beres' Committee led to a spirited debate in Council. At one extreme were those who felt it did not go far enough in extending membership privileges to these individuals; these Councilors felt the denial of the right to vote and hold office would create a kind of second-class citizenship which would be an indignity to its holders. At the other extreme were those who felt the proposed amendment went too far and would be improperly interpreted as extending full membership status. Between these extremes were those who favored the Amendment as it was proposed.
The final vote on the motion to approve the Committee's report was by a show of hands. The Amendment will be reviewed by legal counsel before being submitted to the members.