Ballot Goes Out on Membership for IPA Analysts

This fall members of The American will receive a mail ballot on a bylaws amendment that would extend membership eligibility to analysts in the new IPA societies in the U.S., provided these analysts have had their training approved by the IPA. The amendment would allow full members of the IPA whose credentials and clinical competence have been approved by the Board on Professional Standards to apply for active membership in The American.

This change has been proposed because the recent development of IPA-approved training institutes in the U.S. has revealed certain anomalies in the bylaws. One anomaly is that IPA members trained abroad are currently eligible to apply for active membership upon approval of their credentials by BOPS, a privilege not accorded their American counterparts. To address this inconsistency, the Joint Ad Hoc Committee on Membership for IPA Members was appointed by the Executive Committee to develop recommendations for a nondiscriminatory policy pertaining to all IPA members who might wish to join The American. The proposed extension of eligibility was intended not simply to take legal considerations into account, but to foster an increasingly close relationship with the free-standing institutes.

The committees proposal, hammered out after a year and a half of deliberation—including extensive discussion in Board, Council, and Executive Committee, and consultation with societies, institutes, and many individual members—was presented in its final form at the May Meeting. There it was given an overwhelmingly favorable reception, and the decision was made to submit it to a mail ballot. In the event it passes, BOPS will be responsible for working out the details of its implementation. The committee has recommended to the Board that applications be submitted on forms modeled after those currently in use by its Membership Committee. These forms require applicants to provide a detailed account of their training experience. In addition, a record of postgraduate analytic experience, academic and organizational appointments, and presentations and other activities would be required. An evaluation of clinical competence based on presentation of a current or recent analytic case, analyzed on a four-times-a-week basis, is also recommended.

It is not expected that many analysts in the new IPA groups will be interested in joining yet another psychoanalytic organization. The likelihood is that most will continue working within their own societies and institutes. Some, who have taken part of their training with members of The American, or who have forged professional and social ties with members, may be interested in applying and would be welcomed as valuable colleagues. The national leadership and members of the committee consider the amendment an important step in the evolution of The American, the IPA, and psychoanalysis generally. They urge members to give it their careful consideration and approval.