At the meeting of Council on December 17, the Secretary's report highlighted planning for a consortium of psychoanalytic organizations. The American is involved at present in discussions with the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, Division 39 of the American Psychological Association, and the Committee on Psychoanalysis of the Federation of Societies for Clinical Social Work, with the aim of developing cooperative relationships and identifying common concerns and goals.
Another concern voiced in the report is the need to monitor fast-moving developments in the area of health care delivery. The new Clinton administration is certain to propose major changes, and there are those in psychiatry who would secure their place in a new payment scheme by disavowing any role for psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the treatment of psychiatric conditions. HMOs, which will likely have a prominent place in any new plan, have tended to eliminate or drastically reduce this role. The prospect of even greater cutbacks in reimbursable psychotherapy makes all the more pressing the need for alliances with other analytically oriented groups.
With the dual goal of strengthening psychoanalytic practice and continuing an educational oversight role in conjunction with the societies, President Bernard Pacella announced the formation of a Committee on Societies, to be headed by Ralph Engle and co-chaired by Allan Rosenblatt. In addition, a Coordinating Committee of the Council is planned, modeled on the Board's Coordinating Committee, to facilitate communication among the various committees of Council. Dr. Pacella also announced Rosenblatt's appointment as chair of the Committee on External Credentialing.
The highlight of the afternoon session was a presentation by Norman (Drew) Clemens, who chairs the Committee on Government Relations and Insurance. At his urging, four committees of Council have come together—they call themselves the “quad”—as Council Committees on Psychoanalytic Practice Activities. The other member committees are Peer Review, chaired by Sheila Hafter Gray; Psychoanalytic Practice, chaired by Lee David Brauer; and Public Information, chaired by Stephen Sonnenberg. Dr. Clemens also chairs the Executive Committee Task Force on Economic and Scientific Information. Affiliated with the quad are the Joint Board and Council Committees on Confidentiality, chaired by Jerome Beigler, and the Committee on Psychoanalytic Practice Issues, chaired by George Allison.
The Council approved two motions involving major expenditures. The first reauthorized the use of funds to upgrade the computer equipment in the Central Office, including both hardware and software, and to train the staff in its use. Speaking in support of this measure, Paul Mosher, co-chair of the Committee on Communication and Information, reported that upon its passage and implementation the first step would be the computerization of all financial records, affording the Executive Committee and the Treasurer better access to this information. Once that program is under way, an improved database will be designed, making available to the Central Office and affiliate societies a wealth of information about the membership. It may be useful to know, for example, who among the membership are involved with other organizations, or are in touch with political figures; who are university affiliated; and who chair the various local committees.
The second motion authorized the Council to retain the services of a Coordinator of Psychoanalytic Practice Activities who would lobby and monitor agencies and third-party payers, and initiate and respond to discussions of psychoanalysis in the public media, promoting it as a legitimate component in the treatment of neuroses, character disorders, and other forms of mental disorder. The job would include the oversight and facilitation of practice development activities by affiliate societies, e.g., the planning of local workshops. It was the impression of a number of councilors that over the past decade or so psychoanalysis has lost much of its credibility in the public eye, and it was to redress this problem that Drs. Clemens, Sonnenberg, and Allison urged support for the measure. In other developments:
A co-morbidity study has been proposed to determine the extent to which people enter psychoanalysis with co-diagnoses and the extent to which evidence of alcoholism, or of physical or sexual abuse in childhood, is discovered in the process of analysis. Such studies are part of an ongoing effort to escape the unfair charge that analysts treat only the “working and successful well.”
Homer Curtis gave a follow-up report on his efforts for psychoanalysis in Russia. The goal is to train a number of analysts who will return to St. Petersburg and Moscow. A husband and wife team are being prepared for enrollment in the Washington-Baltimore and Washington Institutes.
In executive session the Council voted to bestow honorary membership on T. Berry Brazelton, for his work on neonates. The author of 22 books, he has concentrated on early relations between mothers and children. Honorary membership was bestowed also on Melford Spiro, of the University of California at San Diego, for his achievements in anthropology, his work on children of kibbutzim, and his commitment to psychoanalysis.
Robert Pyles and Richard Fox reported as chairs of joint committees of Board and Council studying the organization and structure of The American. Issues facing these committees require discussion and debate, as the goals, organization, and structure of The American have not been reviewed for many years. A major goal will be to further democratize the organization.
George Allison, chair of the Committee on Private Practice Issues, reported on a marketing survey undertaken by the Chicago Society. The report was months in the making and should be read by leaders of all affiliate societies.