To begin. A heartfelt thanks to Arnold Richards, the retiring editor of TAP. During his four-and-a-half-year tenure, TAP has grown to be a formidable publication covering a wide range of topics that are of interest and importance to our members. It has become more a newsmagazine than a simple newsletter. Although Arnie is immersed in work in his new position as editor of JAPA (he reports that the number of submissions is running well above last year), he took time to edit this year's first issue of TAP and to patiently teach me the intricacies and pitfalls of publication. Arnie remains on the TAP staff as Consultant for Layout, Design, and Production. He will also serve as photograph archivist and special assignments photographer.
What lies ahead? TAP's evolution will proceed. No major changes in content are planned, but the ongoing change in emphasis will continue. Because of the apprehension engendered by the proposed health care reforms, TAP will highlight these issues and the initiatives of The American to protect our welfare and that of our patients.
In this issue, Bernard Pacella writes his final column as president of The American. It was a presidency during which psychoanalysis faced many tough problems. The expanded Meeting of Members at the meeting in Philadelphia (featured in a page one article written by incoming president Judith Schachter) serves as a symbol of Bernie's tenure, during which time The American has actively sought a greater involvement with its members in grappling with the world outside the consulting room.
Judith Schachter, in an interview by Herbert Thomas, outlines her view of the issues confronting the organization and discusses plans for her presidency. In a complementary interview conducted by Donald Rosenblitt, Lawrence Chalfin, incoming chair of BOPS, expresses his concern that The American maintain high professional standards during the current deliberations on health care and external credentialing. Both Judy and Larry will be writing regular columns.
“Opting out” has been a frequent and heated topic at recent meetings of Board and Council. Should The American reverse its policy of fighting to have psychoanalysis included in health care plans and instead fight for its exclusion? To clarify the question, Drew Clemens and Robert Cummings initiate a new format—TAP Debate. Their opinions are concise and focused, yet offer valuable information beyond the issue as posed.
Another new feature is the Candidates Council column, inaugurated by an article by Rachel Ritvo and Joan Liebermann. The newly established council is another initiative taken by The American to strengthen the organization through a policy of inclusiveness. A third new feature is a column in which media distortions of psychoanalysis are corrected.
It is not possible in any one issue of TAP to include all the activities of The American. Three articles hint at the variety of this work: Fredric Busch writes of The American's efforts to provide analytic input into meetings of the American Psychiatric Association; Allan Rosenblatt presents a glossary to keep track of the players in the arena of external credentialing; and Arnold Wilson writes on the research of Mary Main, recipient of a grant from The Americans Fund for Psychoanalytic Research.
We are pleased also to have articles by two distinguished colleagues representing organizations with which The American has been working closely in the area of health care reform. James Barron writes from his position as president of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association. Jim, a graduate of PINE, is currently running for president of the 125,000-member parent organization. The article by Cecily Weintraub, president of the National Membership Committee on Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work, complements the special section on social workers that appeared in our last issue.
The first of two special sections in this issue features Philadelphia, site of the upcoming meetings. Specials thanks to William O'Brien, president of the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Society, and Jack Solomon, president of the Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis, for their enthusiastic cooperation. Like several other societies and institutes, Philadelphia experienced a split in the 1940s. Although the full details of the break are lost to time, and perhaps tact, the two organizations have a recent history of cooperation. Through the efforts of the joint Local Arrangements Committee, we have special articles by Richard Cornfield, Deena Adler, Daniel Coren, and Cretta Leopold to help those attending the meetings to fully enjoy the ambience of the city. William O'Brien writes of the history of the Society, and Franklin Maleson of the Association. The section highlights three special people associated with Philadelphia. Salman Akhtar interviews Selma Kramer, Jack Solomon interviews Homer Curtis, and Paul Ecker, who shared an office suite with Robert Waelder, reveals to our readers the brilliance of that modest man.
Serendipitously, the second special section, Child Psychoanalysis, includes two articles also relevant to Philadelphia. Henri Parens writes of his exciting work there on early child development, aggression, and parenting education, while Patricia Nachman describes the Mahler Observational Research Nursery in New York. (Margaret Mahler was, as Selma Kramer notes, a seminal figure in Philadelphia child analysis.) Lawrence Pomer rounds out the section with a tribute to the late Marie Briehl, a pioneer child analyst. (Upon learning of this article, Judy Schachter remarked that Marie Briehl was a profound inspiration to her and to many of her colleagues.) John Macgregor organized this special section, which will be continued in the next issue of TAP.
The issue concludes with an article by Moisy Shopper, who writes of his analytic exploration of film and of the very successful involvement by the Saint Louis Institute in film presentations in the community. Moisy reports that over the past year attendance at the series has been 2,700! Who says Freud is dead?
William D. Jeffrey