The American Psychoanalytic Association, the premier psychoanalytic organization, is a tribute to the generosity and dedication of our members. Our responsibilities have grown as our field faces increasingly adverse conditions. For the protection of members and their patients, an environment must be sustained in which psychoanalytic practice can flourish. Also needed are an increased commitment to research and continued efforts to maintain the high educational standards of our institutes.
In coming years we should be able to move beyond reactive postures and adversarial responses. With a health care system of some sort in place, we can develop proactive positions, using our influence as an association of three thousand psychoanalysts for the benefit and security of our members and of colleagues who will follow us. We need to establish long-term contacts with decision makers in health care, making use of professional lobbyists only when we must, aware that such consultations are expensive and threaten to drain our resources. Public officials and their staffs know the difference between true grassroots efforts and the Astroturf of professionals. We therefore encourage members to join together in this task.
It is gratifying to know that all across the country applicants are turning to our institutes for training. We have taken important steps to reach out to them during their preanalytic education. However, to ensure that psychoanalysis will be in capable hands as we enter the next century, we must do more. We have much to offer, but we must get the message out. Eight years of membership on the Committee on Scientific Activities, the past six as chair, and positions on the editorial boards of JAPA, the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, and The Americans Glossary have given me an opportunity to recognize the extraordinary potential for research and scholarship among our members. In this area, however, our organization has only begun to achieve its promise. We must increase our support of research that employs the sophisticated research designs and technological advances currently available. Science as a “cottage industry” has served analysts well and should continue to do so, but meeting The Americans responsibilities will require broader organizational initiatives.
It is sobering to reflect on the accelerating rate of obsolescence of traditional means of information processing and effective communication. The Committee on Scientific Activities has addressed such contemporary alternatives as computer-based indexing, CD-ROM availability of analytic literature, and electronic bulletin boards. We will need this infrastructure in the coming century, both for ourselves and to provide the educational tools necessary for tomorrows students.
I strongly support the proposal of the Committee on Bylaws, Procedures, and Organization Structure and Function to create a Scientific Division that would function in parallel with Board and Council. A Scientific Division would foster and coordinate essential research and infrastructural activities that do not currently receive sufficient attention. Until they do, science is without its own voice in our highest councils. If elected secretary, I hope to fill that void.
We have a unique opportunity now to broaden our membership, increase our influence, and develop our science. As secretary of The American, I would bring to these tasks my experience and energy. I think I can make a difference.