A very early impression when I became Treasurer back in 1990 was of our small size—and relatively small dues base—for an organization involved in so many different activities, most of which cost money. Some of these cost centers, like our scientific meetings, the seminars for clinicians, the newsletter, JAPA, our certification procedures, and site visits to institutes around the country, may be loosely considered “traditional” allocations. We have recently added a number of costly new projects and positions, such as the necessary upgrading of our data processing, the current co-morbidity survey, periodic surveys of psychoanalytic practice, our practice information coordinator, and our legislative liaison resource.
Since the mid-seventies we have demonstrated a commitment to psychoanalytic research through voluntary contributions permitting the award of grants aggregating to more than a million dollars. The American's policy has been to budget for research not from operating funds, but with contributions demonstrating our commitment and thereby attracting outside sources of support. Unfortunately, the latter have not yet materialized.
All this adds up to the need for more money, and we believe that our current dues level—held constant since 1990—is sufficiently high that we fear any increase will have a discouraging impact on membership, both current and potential. The inescapable conclusion is that we must develop sources of funding outside the dues structure of The American.
A foundation is a tested means, employed by many organizations for a very long time, for accomplishing this goal. Considering that our Association is now eighty-three years along, it is hard to accuse ourselves of unseemly haste in establishing such a corporate entity to serve, in particular, our outreach activities to the general community and its subsection of mental health caregivers.
I emphasize to you our need for outreach, because for decades we have behaved complacently, as if the need to interface with the general community and to address cultural trends were all taken care of by Freud's Introductory Lectures. Contact with even well-educated individuals soon informs us otherwise. Many—possibly most—have relegated psychoanalysis to the historical past, its place having been usurped by any number of therapeutic slogans and theoretical systems bearing the seductive label of “new” or “modern.” Such a label carries the implication that all that preceded is now useless and out of date.
The statement of objectives for the foundation we propose delimits succinctly the foundation's general purview, but in language permitting the prospective Board of Directors flexibility in project selection: “The purpose of the American Psychoanalytic Foundation is to support the charitable missions of the American Psychoanalytic Association, with emphasis on education of the general public and the community of mental health caregivers, research on psychoanalysis as therapy and as applicable to other disciplines, and such other projects as contribute to expanded understanding of the relevance of psychoanalysis.”
Reaching out to offer education as to who and what we are; funds for research of various kinds; assistance to students of psychiatry and psychology who wish to learn about psychoanalysis; assistance to parents and teachers who can profit from psychoanalytic perspectives in understanding educational and developmental dilemmas—all are among the variety of projects we envision.
We believe that the community's generosity with dollars can be nourished effectively by the generosity of our “give-backs,” and that the benefits will be thoroughly mutual. We are convinced that it is less difficult to raise funds for a foundation than for an association.
In the present turbulent times for psychoanalysis, we need all the help we can get. A foundation can provide more than a little.