I accept this nomination with optimism and caution. I am optimistic about the fuller inclusion of our membership in the governance of The American, our commitment to train all duly qualified applicants from all mental health disciplines, and our efforts to open to women the highest centers of power in The American. However, I am also cautious, because greater change is needed, and expeditiously. I advance a candidacy based on the following objectives.
Organizational reform. Our major organizational weakness is a lack of expertise in packaging and disseminating the policies articulated by our national officers. A case in point: As my society's outgoing representative to the Executive Council, I have seen a marked improvement in the timeliness with which I receive materials to be debated there. At times, however, important positions presented in Council have differed significantly from their characterization in materials received beforehand. In addition, the management of these issues on the Council floor tends to be helter-skelter, the meeting often being adjourned before new business can be considered. To advance our agenda, both intraorganizationally and extramurally, we need a full-time Chief Executive Officer with high-level management skills. The complex issues we face today—health care reform being a particularly threatening one—require that we do business differently. I take this position as one who has been very active in the American Psychological Association (I have chaired its Committees on Accreditation and on Graduate Education and Training, and have served on its Board of Educational Affairs). From this experience and my increasing involvement in The American, I have come to believe that we could conduct our business in a more orderly and progressive manner with a CEO working for us on a daily basis.
Ethnic and racial diversity. The American is deepening its commitment to diversity in many ways (e.g., our multidisciplinary nature; our increased interest in the impact of gender on treatment; our nondiscriminatory policy with respect to sexual orientation). Yet The American continues to be, as it has always been, largely devoid of racial and ethnic diversity. As an African-American woman, I am disconcerted to come to meetings of The American and see so few people of color. It is timely and proper, therefore, for us to increase ethnic and racial diversity at all levels of The American.
Prioritizing our science base. We need to ratify a reorganization plan authorizing the establishment of a Science Directorate in The American. As a university professor for many years, I have taught undergraduates, graduate students in psychology, medical students, and psychiatric residents. I know firsthand that psychoanalytic science has an undeniable appeal in attracting and sustaining the interest of prospective practitioners and researchers. My own recent scholarly publications have focused on the influence of race and gender in psychoanalytic treatment, and I use this work in my teaching to show that scientific inquiry is an essential part of our discipline. A Science Directorate is the enhanced organizational vehicle we need to promote and protect our scientific base. As an educator, psychologist, and psychoanalytic practitioner-scholar, I have the multiorganizational range and depth of experience to serve The American well as a councilor-at-large. If elected, I will work energetically and purposefully for all of us.