Dr. Burness E. Moore marked the occasion of leaving the presidency of the APsaA and formally introducing the new president, Dr. George H. Pollock, with an address to the Meeting of Members in Denver on May 4, 1974.
Dr. Moore commented on the numerous new developments influencing the American Psychoanalytic Association at this time. These include the new categories of membership which he feels will help to establish earlier and enriched identities as psychoanalysts among younger colleagues; the burgeoning of a national organization of candidates which will work in increasing integration with the Association; the appointment of a new Joint Ad Hoc Committee on Certification to study the multiplying complex issues of the analyst's position in American medicine, and the relationships between relatively autonomous training institutes to a national organization with necessary accrediting functions.
Dr. Moore spoke further about the controversial questions concerning the analyst's position in current insurance programs, and, potentially, in a national insurance program. The rights of analysts to legal acceptance as a valid arm of psychiatry creates a responsibility in our analytic societies to provide peer review mechanisms, while threats to the confidentiality of the patient-physician relationship is drawing increasing well-deserved attention. A Joint Committee of Board and Council on Confidentiality (Dr. Jerome Beigler, Chairman) will consider these issues, draw up guidelines, and communicate them to members. A new Committee on Psychoanalytic Practice under the chairmanship of Dr. Daniel Jaffe will investigate, among related questions, the serious drop in analytic referrals.
Dr. Moore spoke eloquently of his
indebtedness to the many people who have worked with him, offering special thanks to Mrs. Fischer and the Central Office Staff. It was a fitting valedictory to a Presidency which emphasized throughout the expansion and deepening of open dialogue within the Association, and a sensitive recognition of its intersecting relationships to all levels of American life.
In his introduction of the new President, Dr. Moore made it evident that Dr. Pollock's astounding record of varied accomplishments, honors, and positions of leadership make him superbly qualified to contribute in his new post to the ever-increasing complex of Association activities. Dr. Pollock has not only an M.D. degree, but a Ph.D. in Physiology. He is presently Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern University Medical School. He is Director of the Chicago Institute, President of the Illinois Psychiatric Society and President of the Center for Psycho-Social Studies. It is impossible to list here his past activities in the American Psychoanalytic Association, his wide-ranging contributions to the literature in neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine and psychoanalysis, and his current significant editorial positions. A picture emerged from Dr. Moore's introduction of a gifted man, and a leader in each of his chosen fields of endeavor, accustomed for many years to perform with superb flexibility and integration, admirable work in a variety of specialties.
Dr. Pollock, in his acceptance remarks, expressed warm appreciation of Burnie Moore—“his wisdom, his sensitivity, his conscientious attention to the many, many issues that have confronted his office as President, his integrity, his tact and his kindness.”