These days the Association is bustling with activity. If you stop in at the Central Office in New York, it will have the appearance of a newsroom, assistants hurrying around, while Helen Fischer keeps up with a line of urgent phone calls.
As part of our ongoing effort to upgrade our data management systems, we have just signed a contract with a management consultant. Paul Mosher continues to oversee the project. It is hoped that the new system will be in full operation by the end of the year, during which time Central Office personnel will be trained in its use. All of this is costly, but absolutely essential, and must take priority over many other projects.
In another development, the Committee on Societies (COS), co-chaired by Ralph Engle and Allan Rosenblatt, will in addition to its other functions serve as a reference committee that will forward all recommendations presented to the Executive Committee by the various task forces to the Executive Councilors. The Councilors will then submit the material to their respective societies for discussion. It is then to be returned to COS with the comments of the affiliate societies. COS will be responsible for securing the societies' responses, and will then summarize the views elicited. This process is intended to insure (1) that the societies have been informed of and have discussed the major issues; and (2) that Councilors are prepared to discuss the issues and to cast an informed and representative vote on the many important matters that are before the Council. I consider this procedure an enhancement and a democratization of the Association's governance, and a moving away from the centralization of power in the Executive Committee. It is an important step in bringing together the component societies of The American into a cohesive whole, despite the fact that many differences remain to be fully discussed.
Another organizational change is the plan for a meeting of the chairs of Council committees, including joint committees, with the Executive Committee at each national meeting. This meeting of chairs will constitute the operational infrastructure of The American, and might perhaps become known as the Steering Committee. The model for such a committee is the Coordinating Committee of the Board, which meets four times a year with the Executive Committee, with the chair of BOPS presiding. At these meetings, held at the Central Office, much of the business of the Association is discussed.
It can also reported that the new Committee on Bylaws, Procedures, and Organizational Structure and Function is now fully constituted, with Robert Wallerstein as chair pro tem. This committee will also examine the recommendations and suggestions of the task forces, whose “think tank” activities will terminate by May 1994, in accordance with their original charge.
In April I attended a workshop in Chicago with representatives of society foundations and those who would like to establish one. The workshop was arranged by Harvey Rich of Washington and by Marvin Margolis. The process for creating foundations varies from state to state, and the various benefits and pitfalls were thoroughly discussed.
You probably are aware that the Executive Committee has been meeting regularly with officers of the IPA during our semiannual national meetings. Issues of common interest are discussed; and differences of opinion arising during the interim periods are aired and brought to final settlement.
Similar meetings are held annually with officers of the American Psychiatric Association, and these too have been productive and useful. With changes in mental health care delivery imminent, it becomes ever more crucial to hold these discussions. The APA, with a membership close to 40,000 (contrasted with our 3,000 members) could be a very important support base.
There are IPA affiliate organizations other than The American in the U.S.: The New York Freudian Society, the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (New York), the Psychoanalytic Center of California, and the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies. Standards for training and graduation in these societies have been provisionally approved by the IPA, and their membership is almost entirely made up of doctoral level psychologists. We are exploring in a preliminary way the possibility of some form of liaison with them. It seemed appropriate also to develop better relations with the Canadian Psychoanalytic Association, with the eventual goal of forming a North American group of psychoanalytic societies, consisting of The American, the IPA affiliate societies, and the Canadian Psychoanalytic Association, that would parallel the Federation of Psychoanalytic Associations of Latin America (FEPEL) and the European Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies. Among the issues up for discussion are the advisability of joint scientific meetings and the setting up of an independent credentialing body external to the three components of any future regional alliance. Such a federation would give North American analysts a stronger voice in the IPA's governance and would facilitate mutual support as regards health care reforms in the U.S. and Canada. The most recent meeting of the three was held on March 27.
Another alliance under discussion by the Executive Committee would bring The American together with Division 39 of the American Psychological Association, the National Federation of Clinical Social Workers, and the American Academy of Psychoanalysis. Marvin Margolis has spearheaded this alliance, which for the present is being called a consortium. Its primary aim has been to define a “benefits package” of payment and copayment by third-party payers for psychotherapy and psychoanalysis and to act in concert in relation to any health reform act that might emerge, using the power of the alliance to insure recognition for mental health care providers. Because of concerns expressed by some members, the consortium idea will be subjected to discussion by the societies. The Committee on Societies will disseminate the relevant information to all our Councilors for presentation and discussion at their respective societies.
In closing, I would like to report two recent developments. The Executive Committee, at its meeting on March 7, approved a bylaws amendment opening membership in The American to members of IPA affiliate societies in the United States. The measure is intended to bring the bylaws into line with the new regional arrangements worked out with the IPA. A second bylaws change currently in the works would provide for affiliate membership upon a candidate's acceptance for training. Both proposals must be submitted to the Council for discussion and vote, and finally to the Membership for decision. I remind you how pleased I will be to hear from you about these matters or any other concerns you may wish to bring to my attention.