I read with interest the note by Dan Jacobs on “Certification/Membership Deliberations.” I have, for many years, urged exactly the steps that are now being taken, and I applaud the action now contemplated.
I am writing, however, because there is a small error in the wording of the proposal that was placed before the Board. The proposal states, “as is presently the case, the Board on Professional Standards will continue to function autonomously in all areas of psychoanalytic education, institute accreditation, and individual certification, independent of the Executive Council.” The Board does not operate independently of the Executive Council. It operates with the authority and autonomy delegated to it by the Executive Council. The Executive Council, as the functional Board of Trustees of the American Psychoanalytic Association, is responsible for the actions of all of its components including the Board. The delegated autonomy of the Board is important and should be preserved, but the Council's autonomy should not be confused with independence. The Board, like every other component of the American Psychoanalytic Association, is responsible for adhering to the bylaws of the organization, and the bylaws are the responsibility of the Executive Council through the membership.
It has from time to time been suggested that the certifying function of the Board should be made fully independent of the American Psychoanalytic Association, so that it might function as certifying boards do in other specialties. The idea is interesting, but raises its own set of problems. In the meantime, however, all actions of the Board are actions of the American Psychoanalytic Association, as represented by its elected officials in the Executive Council. Lest there be any doubt that the Board is not independent of the Council, one need only remind oneself of the consequences of a lawsuit that might ensue from an action of the Board, It would, of course, fall to The American, through its Council, to defend the suit, with monies raised from the members.
Arnold M. Cooper, MD
Professor of Psychiatry
The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center