Sometime in 1971, Bernard Chodorkoff conceived the idea of a newsletter for the Michigan Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. He sent around a notice suggesting the idea to members of the institute, insisting that “this could really happen!” Since then the Michigan Newsletter has set a standard for newsletters of member institutes of The American.
Then, as now, the big question was money — just how much would it cost, and where would the money come from? Now, of course, we feel the newsletter, which has become a vital means of informing the Michigan public about psychoanalysis, is well worth the cost; back then it was a grand experiment. Early issues contained articles and photos, as well as book reviews and summaries of scientific meetings, both local and distant. There was news of members, basic reporting, and summaries of The American's twice yearly meetings. Those early issues were printed in two columns, on white paper front and back, and usually ran about twelve pages, which were stapled together at the upper left corner. In an early photo that was run, Karl Menninger happened into the frame just as Bernie snapped his wife and a friend at an IPA congress.
The second editor was David Pryor, who over a three-year period beginning in 1978 made the newsletter more attractive and easier to read. It also became more newsy. Following Pryor were Robert Hatcher and then Harold Taylor. “There were always important things happening,” the latter recalled, “that our readers needed to know about; but it was difficult sometimes to anticipate things correctly when the concept for each issue had to be worked out three to four months before its actual appearance.” Above all, Taylor remembered staying up late putting issues together with the office staff; he felt it was great fun, and he liked being kept informed about events and the concerns of members. In the fall of 1989 Taylor was succeeded as editor by Michael Colman, who experienced the pleasures and difficulties of previous editors. There were cuts to be made in articles too long to fit, and then often an author's hurt feelings to deal with, as well as the need to edit articles in accordance with the institute's general philosophy.
The Michigan Newsletter is now published three times a year, and the issues tend to be thematic. For instance, the fall issue regularly highlights the annual fund-raising benefit of the Michigan Psychoanalytic Foundation (MPF). Headliners at recent benefits have been the singer Barbara Cook, comedian Dr. Will Miller of television's Nick at Night, the Capitol Steps improv troupe, and the Hartford Memorial Baptist Church Jubilee Chorus. The newsletter takes this opportunity to publicize the many worthwhile projects supported by the foundation and sponsored by the institute. The spring issue focuses on the institute's annual symposium and announces that year's Visiting Professor of Psychoanalysis. Both programs involve visitors from other institutes who address a wide range of people in the mental health community, not only from Detroit but from nearby cities such as Ann Arbor, Lansing, and Toledo. The spring and summer issues also feature news emanating from meetings of The American.
The newsletters circulation currently stands at four thousand, with a readership that is quite diverse. Because of a growing lay audience, summaries of scientific meetings are no longer run, lest even anonymous material be misunderstood in terms of sexual and aggressive content by those untrained in the field.'
Usually one to two pages of each issue are devoted to “News from the Michigan Psychoanalytic Foundation.” The foundation is involved in many activities, including the recent acquisition and purchase of a new building for the Michigan Institute. Other foundation activities that have received coverage are the South Asian American Liaison Committee organized by Purnima Mehta and the Liaison Committee to the Black Community organized by Nancy Kulish and Don Spivak. Often featured are profiles of foundation members who have aided the development of MPF projects.
Additional news items present candidate activities, new candidates (with photos), recent graduates of the adult and child analytic programs, recently certified members, and new training analyst appointments. There are sections also for Honors and Awards, Presentations and Publications, new library acquisitions, and, usually on an annual basis, a listing of “In Honor of” and “In Memory of” contributions to the foundation and the institute.
The Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis (AAP) is given a page in each issue to report its news, summaries of its meetings, and upcoming events. The AAP is a group of mental health professionals with an interest in using psychoanalytic principles in their work.
Other articles include pieces highlighting national issues, such as the debates over health care reform that took up so much attention and energy in 1994; regular columns by the presidents of the institute's Educational Committee and the Michigan Psychoanalytic Society; oped pieces on current psychoanalytic issues; obituaries; and book reviews written by members and candidates.
To direct the attention of readers to upcoming meetings and activities, the newsletter uses a 20 percent navy blue screen to background announcements and surrounds them with a dark blue linear border. This nicely sets such items off from adjacent news and makes an attractive counterpoint to the newsletter's black print on light gray stock.
This rather full plate of news about psychoanalytic activities in Michigan is served up to the readership on a regular basis. The newsletter has thereby increased the visibility of psychoanalysis in Michigan and has set an example of what can be done at the institute level to promote psychoanalysis and its goals. Here this seems to have been done quite successfully, as members of the Michigan Society enjoy on average one of the highest ratios of analytic patients per analyst in the country.
The newsletter's next project is to move to in-house desktop publishing, using the program QuarkXPress and a scanner to create camera-ready copy for the printer. This will significantly lower publication costs, a major consideration since the newsletter, at a cost of nearly twenty-five hundred dollars an issue, is not an inexpensive proposition.
Finally, the newsletter would not be possible without the devoted efforts of institute staff, notably executive secretary Kathleen Kunkel, Mary Johnson, and Shirley Seffinger, and the energetic participation of the assistant editors.
Lynne Moritz, TAP mid-America editor, served as special section editor for Psychoanalysis and the Community.