To the Editor:

The December issue of the APsaA Newsletter included a “Point of View” from Lucy Zabarenko commenting on the non-analytic “achievements” of various members of the American. I have never sent anything to the Newsletter, and would not have this time, but reading Dr. Zabarenko's letter brought two “brief items” to mind: (1) In Salzburg this July, I was elected one of the five members-at-large of the Executive Committee of the World Federation for Mental Health. The only other one trained in psychoanalysis (and, perhaps, not according to our particular standards) was Takeo Doi of Japan. (2) In October, I became President-Elect of the Association for Behavioral Science and Medical Education. Neither of these activities, of course, are significant for the inner working of the psychoanalytic community. In each instance, however, (as in a number of other offices currently held in non-psychoanalytic groups), I was identified as a psychoanalyst, in addition to being a practitioner of other activities more immediately germane to the organization in question. This, at least, suggests that being an analyst need not be a public relations hindrance and may, in fact, help.

Eugene B. Brody, M.D.

Baltimore