This issue features the upcoming IPA Congress in San Francisco—only the second held in the United States, and the third in North America. To encourage attendance, The American decided not to schedule a scientific program at its May meeting in Chicago. TAP follows suit, focusing not on Chicago but on the Bay Area. On page one, Joseph Lifschutz and Reed Brockbank, the hardworking cochairs of the Local Arrangements Committee, invite us to the meeting. A special section, IPAC in S.F., leads off with Irene Chiarandini's interview with IPA president Horacio Etchegoyen. In addition to discussing the IPA's relationship with The American, he speaks of personal relationships with his many colleagues in The American.
In keeping with this issue's international perspective, TAP runs a trio of intriguing articles on the history of psychoanalysis in Mexico, Canada, and Japan. These histories underscore the fact that psychoanalysis has no national boundaries. Eva Lester writes of analysis in Canada, the development of which was enhanced by European analysts. In Ramón Parres's account, analysis developed in Mexico with assistance from the Argentine Psychoanalytic Association, with U.S. analysts, particularly from Columbia University, playing a helpful role. Masahisa Nisizono writes of analysis in Japan, where analysts were influenced by colleagues in both England and the United States, in particular by analysts at the Menninger.
Returning to the host city, no history of analysis in San Francisco would be complete without citing the vast influence of the European emigrés who escaped the Nazi onslaught to settle on the West Coast. Looking next to present-day analysis in this country, Harriet Basseches chronicles the recent development of the four free-standing IPA institutes in the U.S.: the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, the New York Freudian Society, the Psychoanalytic Center of California, and the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies. As the Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies in the United States, these groups join The American in cohosting the Congress.
In addition to the intellectual attractions of the meeting, those attending can enjoy the visceral excitement of the city. Katherine Fraser writes of the glories of the area, while Melvin Brown highlights one of its foremost specialties—its culinary delights. A final word of appreciation is overdue to Owen Renik and Charles Fischer, who have worked behind the scenes for the past year promoting the Congress in these pages.
Returning to The American, President Judy Schachter informs us of the many initiatives the organization is making to reach out to colleagues and friends, with the hope of enlarging their ranks. Larry Chalfin, chair of BOPS, also stresses the need for outreach, while at the same time ensuring that training standards are maintained in the midst of change. Leslie Brown writes from a candidate's perspective on one of the educational activities of BOPS—an institute site visit. David Orbison, president of the Affiliates Council, next introduces another initiative—the new mentorship program. Scott Carder presents the current thinking on the Committee on Private Practice (chaired by Lee Brauer) on how best to build an analytic practice. As promised, Dick Fox tallies the results of the TAP survey on the meetings, to which about two hundred members responded. Under the In the Community rubric, Purnima Mehta writes of a major outreach effort into the growing Indo-Pakistani community in Detroit. Plans are currently afoot for a special TAP section on community education.
Although TAP is not featuring Chicago in this issue, we have not forgotten Mid-America and are pleased to inform readers of analytic growth in the region. Already a presence in cities served by the older societies and institutes, analysis is growing in Milwaukee (reported by Steve Steury, Samuel Black, and Walter Todd Davison), Minneapolis (reported by Keith Horton), Nashville (reported by Volney Gay), and Kansas City (reported by Michael Harty).
TAP introduces a series on computers with articles by Paul Mosher and Stanley Goodman. Mel Mandel and Elise Snyder will coordinate the series, which is designed to help readers overcome computer inhibition—a somewhat prevalent condition even among the best analyzed. The recent article in TAP 28/3 by Anne-Marie Sandler on the Anna Freud Center inspired a group of American analysts who have trained at Hampstead to recount their fond memories. In addition to sharing their reminiscences, Len Shengold, Vann Spruiell, and Al Solnit encourage readers to support this world-renowned center of psychoanalytic research and training. Sam Abrams, in his usual graceful and literate style, writes about memory, now a charged topic encompassing efforts to prohibit therapy that “recovers memories.” Chair Irene Chiarandini and the Committee on Public Information are to be congratulated for commissioning this article, which first appeared in Treatment Today, a medical magazine for the general public.
TAP prints the second Practice Guideline, Charting Psychoanalysis, in a special center section that should be detached and saved for future reference. The guideline has been developed by the Committee on Peer Review, chaired by Sheila Hafter Gray.
What else? The last issue of TAP had a circulation of eight thousand. Three thousand copies were distributed at The American's booth at the American Psychiatric Association Meeting, and free one-year subscriptions were offered to psychiatric residents. Results of this effort at public information will be reported in the next issue. Finally, TAP has joined the Psychoanalytic Connection—a nationwide computer resource. Past issues of TAP will be on-line. Further information can be obtained at 212-243-1575 or E-mail .
William D. Jeffrey