In a move to make The American more accessible to analysts-in-training, The American is establishing a Candidates Council. As a permanent structure within The American, the council will receive the Association's financial and organizational support. Intended to encourage candidates to become involved in psychoanalysis beyond the confines of individual institutes, the council will also help candidates toward a more broadly based professional identity and give them a voice at the national level.
Through the efforts of Gerald Melchiode, chair of the Joint Committee on Affiliate Membership, and Richard Fox, chair of the Strategic Task Force on Membership and Organizational Issues, the number of candidates eligible to be represented on this council has been increased significantly. On recommendation of the two bodies, 92% of the membership voted in October to change the bylaws of The American to allow candidates to become affiliate members immediately upon matriculation. The newly formed Candidates Council supersedes the former CAPE, which had attempted to organize candidates nationally.
A Workshop on Affiliate Membership was held at the 1993 fall meeting, with over sixty candidate representatives in attendance from institutes across the country. The groundwork for the workshop was laid by Melchiode and Fox, both of whom volunteered their continued support. At this meeting, candidates selected Don Spivak of the Michigan Psychoanalytic Society to chair a steering committee for the new council. Katherine Fraser, a candidate at the San Francisco Institute, volunteered to be secretary. Spivak was asked to choose, from a list of volunteers, five members to round out the committee, which is charged with formulating proposals for structuring the council. The steering committee is to make its proposals available, through candidate organizations in the institutes, prior to reconvening the workshop on May 20 at 12:30 P.M.
In a lively discussion, candidates attending the December workshop explored the possible goals and functions of the council. These included the establishment and support of candidate organizations at local institutes; facilitating candidate representation on committees of The American; addressing the specific practical and financial issues unique to analytic training; seeking greater participation of candidates in the scientific programs of The American; and improving the dissemination of information among candidates of different institutes.