The National Candidates Council (NCC) (under the leadership of the late Dr. Barre Alan) came into existence some years ago to deal with tax deduction problems in connection with analytic training. With the successful resolution of these difficulties, the NCC turned its attention to wider areas of interest, especially questions of training and psychoanalytic education.
There has been increasing interest among both the members of the Association and the Candidates for wider candidate participation in the APsaA and in the local societies. There has been mutual concern over the fact that the majority of Candidates are so uninvolved in the affairs of their local Institutes and of the National organization, except in their roles as receptive students. We have been encouraged and aided by the leadership of the Association and by many local analysts in our endeavor to develop a more comprehensive NCC program.
Our primary focus has been to seek means to improve the educational experiences of Candidates at their local Institutes, but we have begun to address ourselves to other problems as well, e.g., the question of attracting psychiatric residents to analytic training; the decrease in the percentage of analytic graduates who seek APsaA membership; how to increase scientific productivity among our Candidates; ways of combating further isolation of psychoanalysis from the wider scientific community.
With these primary goals as the basis of mutual interest, Candidate representatives of 10 of the 22 Institutes met in San Francisco in May, 1970 to discuss a new organizational structure for our group and to hold our first election under the new temporary By-Laws. The following officers were elected to the Board of Directors: Chairman, Dr. Joseph G. Hinchliffe; Vice-Chairman, Dr. Robert A. Nemiroff; Secretary, Dr. David Werman; Treasurer, Dr. Richard K. Cole.
It was further decided that the Board of Directors will be composed of one representative from each institute. It was decided to issue a quarterly newsletter for candidates for which Dr. Marvin Margolis accepted editorial responsibility. The executive was instructed to recommend inclusion of Candidates in the Association's Arrangements and Program Committees, and on the editorial staff of its Newsletter. The Board of Directors then discussed a proposal regarding membership in the APsaA. The proposal, drafted by Dr. Robert Nemiroff and members of the Western New England group, was approved by the NCC, and its officers were instructed to communicate it to the APsaA.
The text of the proposal is as follows:
“The NCC proposes that the membership requirements of the American Psychoanalytic Association be changed so that graduation from an accredited Institute be accepted as sufficient evidence of qualification for membership. In addition, we propose that the current mandatory delay between graduation and the time at which one is eligible to apply for membership be abolished so that a graduate would be considered eligible for membership upon graduation.”
The Candidates recognize that there have been important historical reasons for the current membership policy and very likely, cogent training issues and questions of standards still exist; however, it was felt important to develop a position expressing the Candidate's point of view, as distinct from institutional concerns.
Following is a brief outline of the considerations entering into the above proposal:
The present application procedures for joining the Association are unacceptable to a growing number of recent graduates and candidates.
There are serious questions on the part of candidates and graduates as to the necessity or logic involved in having a judgment passed as to their qualifications, other than what is required for graduation from an accredited institute. The present policy leads to the creation of two classes of analysts. The American Psychoanalytic Association and the local institutes might address themselves to establishment of criteria for graduation that would be mutually acceptable and thus eliminate this prolonged, two-stage graduation procedure.
By its very nature, psychoanalytic education extends over a significant portion of an analyst's career, so that by the time of graduation he is likely to be around forty years of age. At that point, to impose another two-year delay before the graduate can become a full-fledged participant in his national professional association is an unnecessary loss for both the analyst and the Association.
Finally, we feel that if we can shorten the apprenticeship period in psychoanalytic training without diminishing the quality of the training experience, we may make analytic training more attractive to the coming generation of psychiatric residents.
The NCC anticipates that this issue will be discussed in our local chapters in the next few months. We hope that members of the Association will express their views on our proposal, since we feel that a vigorous debate can only serve to advance our common goals.
—MARVIN MARGOLIS, M.D.