Delinkage Approved Bylaw Amendment Passes, 792-111

Certification is no longer required for active membership in the American Psychoanalytic Association. On March 10 a bylaw amendment removing the requirement was passed by a vote of 792 to 111, with two abstentions and sixteen invalid or late ballots. This result emphatically reverses the members' decision of just over a year ago, and is the second of two major changes to be enacted in a matter of months. Last summer, members approved an amendment expanding eligibility for training and membership to include doctors of psychology, mental health, and social work on the same basis as psychiatrists. The active membership will almost immediately expand to include hundreds of graduates of institutes approved by The American who previously have been restricted to associate membership, and will be diversified by the ready access now given to professionals who earlier could be admitted only through the waiver process.

A year ago the first delinkage amendment was favored by a majority of those voting but fell short of the necessary two-thirds. The unsuccessful amendment restricted noncertified active members from voting on matters affecting the Board on Professional Standards. Under the terms of the newly amended bylaw, noncertified active members are ineligible to vote on bylaw amendments, a change that eliminates the need to define what issues might affect the Board. Certification continues as a requirement for membership on the Council or Board, for holding elective office, and for designation as a training analyst. The restriction on voting was included to preclude any possibility that noncertified members might alter training standards by enacting changes in the bylaws.

The issue generated considerable controversy until compromise led to the present, much more consensual decision. In the intense campaigning that preceded the vote on the original amendment, several hundred members signed letters for or against the proposal, and many took part in telephone electioneering. Those who opposed the change generally cited the danger of a decline in training standards. Those in favor argued for the need to include all graduates in the life of the organization, noting that large numbers were excluded under the old bylaws and that the active membership included an increasing proportion of life members who do not pay dues and many of whom are retired. There are at present 1,607 active members, of whom 606 are life members. Associate and extended associate members, now eligible to become active members, number 203 and 628 respectively.

Following the defeat of the first proposal, a new effort to achieve delinkage was launched by the Group to Strengthen Membership, organized by Edith Sabshin, Dan Buie, and Richard Fox. The group reintroduced the proposal and sought to build sufficient support for its passage. Once the amendment was formally revived by a petition of

Freud on Film See page 3

Freud on Film

At the May meeting analysts will have the opportunity to see the founder of psychoanalysis on film. Harold Blum, representing the Freud Archives, and Ronald Wilkinson, representing the Library of Congress, will jointly present a set of rarely seen movies spanning approximately a decade from the late 1920s to 1938.

Donated by a number of historical figures in psychoanalysis, including Marie Bonaparte, Sandor Lorand, and Phillip Lehrman, the films show Freud at work, at play, and in loving interaction with his family. He sits at his desk engrossed in his work, surrounded by his beloved antiquities. He engages in animated conversation with a visiting archaeologist. He plays affectionately with his dog, and sits with his family, the caring paterfamilias.

Although the majority of the films are silent, one is narrated by Anna Freud. Another, also featuring sound, shows Freud as a psychoanalytic pioneer in the company of other pioneers including Franz Alexander and Herman Nunberg.

Whereas Freud's frozen visage is a well-established image in the mind of every analyst, the animated Freud, brought to life on film, provides a new and evocative experience for the viewer. Members who spend time with these extraordinary films, which will be shown at the Library of Congress, will be richly rewarded.

George Allison, President of The American, commented that “the long, divisive struggle over delinkage is behind us, so we can now better support the strength and vitality of younger members through the Association's efforts to address the multiplicity of pressing problems facing psychoanalysis. I am very grateful to the Group to Strengthen Membership led by Edith Sabshin, Dick Fox, and Dan Buie, and to Sandy Abend for finding this successful compromise.”