Our concerns about delinkage can be condensed into two parts: 1) do graduates of institutes accredited by the American Psychoanalytic Association possess the professional and personal qualities suitable for full voting membership in the Association? and 2) will delinking lower the educational standards in our institutes and eventually diminish the quality of our membership?
The Association has indeed been unique in that the Board on Professional Standards, an autonomous organization of institutes within our larger membership organization, has carried out the complex functions of institute development, accreditation and reaccreditation of institutes, certification of institute graduates, evaluation and recommendation of members for the larger parent organization and, more recently, waiving the medical requirement to allow institutes to admit qualified nonmedical applicants.
In all other medical organizations, these important functions are kept separate and are carried out under the auspices of completely separate entities. A component organization may participate in the process of accreditation or certification, but no single association has total control of all these functions as The American has through the Board committee structure. This unique structure has been one of The American's strengths in the development and maintenance of educational standards; it has also now become a source of difficulty and is considered by many to be a weakness and an anachronism.
Almost 15 years ago, in May 1976, in a report to the Association on certification, Burness Moore pointed out that, “The establishment of a certification process separate from the membership procedure is essential to conform to currently accepted requirements.” These requirements were set forth according to the accreditation guidelines of the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation, which reviews, evaluates, and publicly designates accrediting bodies. Under the guidelines for separation of membership and certification, graduates who apply for certification also state whether or not they wish to become members of the Association. To my knowledge, no one has ever chosen not to become a member upon certification. Dr. Moore in his report also pointed out that the “establishment of a membership committee within the Executive Council [is] a possibility for future consideration.” More recently, at a meeting of the Executive Council, Dr. Moore indicated that the linking of membership and certification was never meant to be permanent.
Beyond these quasi-legal, formal requirements, there are good and sufficient reasons to make full voting membership available to all our graduates. The basic requirement for membership prior to certification was that the graduates demonstrate in very brief case write-ups-rather than through the present complex procedure-that they knew how to facilitate and carry out a psychoanalytic process. The American Psychoanalytic Association, through its membership committee, could still use such a process to check on the competence of current graduates.
“Present graduates are every bit as involved as certified members and equally affected by decisions of the Association. We need vigorous young people ... to carry on the standards and ideals we all strive for.”
Under the proposal for delinking membership from certification, the Association would become a forum where all graduates of our approved institutes would be able to participate fully in the scientific and professional affairs of the Association. Present graduates are every bit as involved as certified members and equally affected by decisions of the Association and by changes that take place in psychoanalytic practice and theory and should have a voice in making these decisions.
Educational matters would continue to rest with the Board on Professional Standards. In particular, certification would remain a Board function and would be a requirement for holding office in the Association, to be an Executive Councilor, Fellow of the Board or member of a Board committee, and to be a Training and Supervising Analyst. At the time when the Association was considering and struggling with the category of Extended Associate membership, to allow graduates who were not certified to remain in the organization beyond three years, concerns were that this category of membership would diminish the need for and desire to pursue certification. This has not occurred, and one can reasonably predict that the certification process will not be altered or diminished by allowing all graduates of approved institutes to become active members of the Association.
Standards would continue to be safeguarded, and, if necessary, remedial efforts would be directed toward the institutes. There are concerns that standards could not be upheld in this manner. However, through joint cooperation of membership and certification committees, data could be accumulated and transmitted to our component institutes. As I have observed the operations of the Board, this kind of data and site visits carried out carefully and collegially do bring about corrections within individual institutes to the satisfaction of all parties. In fact, such data can serve to improve standards and enable us to focus on weaknesses and strengths alike within our institutes. We cannot continue operating on the concept that the child pays for the sins of the parent.
Yet another issue must be considered by the Association. More and more we are becoming an organization that is top heavy with Life (non-dues-paying) members. While this category of membership has financial implications, it is not, nor should it be, the main consideration for opening Active membership to all graduates of institutes approved by the American Psychoanalytic Association. We need vigorous young people, trained in what most of us believe to be the best institutes in the world, to carry on the standards and ideals we all strive for. Many outstanding, creative, active psychoanalysts have been left out of the affairs of The American. This situation should be corrected by delinking certification and membership and encouraging all our graduates to contribute their talent to the advancement of psychoanalysis.