This issue marks the assumption of the Newsletter Editorship by Dr. Arnold D. Richards, who succeeds Dr. Estelle Shane, Editor from 1986 to 1989. While welcoming Dr. Richards I would first like to express my appreciation, both personally and for the American, to Dr. Shane for her able and unstinting efforts to provide the members with up-to-date and lively reports of the important currents in our Association and psychoanalysis. Under her leadership the Newsletter has made creative use of interviews, reports of our meetings, essays on the workings of our major committees and numerous other articles to help the membership understand the many dimensions of our organization.
Dr. Richards brings with him a wide experience in writing and editing both for scientific and organizational publications. While serving as Co-Editor for the past year, he has acquainted himself with the basic aims and operations of our Newsletter, as well as developing some plans to put his individual stamp on it. What you see now is the result of that planning.
Dr. Richards has offered me this opportunity to bring you up to date on some of our current activities, issues and problems, and I hope this can be a regular means of communicating with you. You have already received the official notification of the settlement of the litigation that has been a major focus these past three years. As might be expected, internal issues held in abeyance during our preoccupation with the lawsuit have now begun to demand our attention. The Executive Committee, the Certification Committee and the Committee on Associate and Affiliate Membership have been studying issues connected with certification, especially the linkage between active membership and certification. With the additional impetus of the Los Angeles proposal advocating eligibility for active membership upon graduation without certification, a Joint Ad Hoc Committee on Membership and Organization, chaired by Dr. Martin Stein, was appointed in April and held its first meeting in San Francisco. Discussion in Board and Council showed strong differences of opinion, as would be expected on a topic that has been debated periodically for almost twenty years. The Ad Hoc Committee has begun its work and will be giving a preliminary report at the December meeting.
The Task Force on Research and Information under the energetic chairmanship of Dr. Drew Clemens has been very productive in carrying out its dual charge. The research aspect has been undertaken by a subcommittee of the Committee on Scientific Activities, headed by Dr. Henry Bachrach, and a draft of a monograph reviewing and evaluating the literature on efficacy of psychoanalysis is nearing completion. When finished this work will find two different but related uses: one, it will immediately be utilized in informational and educational approaches to third-party payers, government agencies and the public; and two, it will recommend long-range research efforts studying efficacy of psychoanalysis, to be carried out by a group of our most experienced researchers. In the meantime, the Task Force has produced an informational brochure “The Case for Economic Support of Psychoanalysis.” This is based on data provided by actuarial and insurance experts and is now being distributed for use by our affiliate societies and members in their efforts to gain broader insurance coverage for psychoanalytic treatment.
Elsewhere in this issue you will read of the exciting plans for the touring exhibition from the Freud Museum of London, “Fragments from a Buried Past.” These artifacts from Freud's collection will be shown in thirteen cities across the country. Of special interest to our Association are the plans of many of our affiliate societies to sponsor symposia honoring Freud and his contributions on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. These will be held in conjunction with the exhibition, and will bring valuable public attention to the exhibition and to psychoanalysis.
I am sure that Dr. Richards and his staff will fulfill their goal of making the Newsletter a lively and important means of communication between members and the American. I would encourage the members to accept his invitation to participate in the form of letters, suggestions and contributions.
Homer Curtis