The American Psychoanalytic Association has launched a major campaign to expand psychoanalysis in the United States. As a crucial part of that effort, a new committee has been established, with two functions: first, to identify new societies or study groups that need help strengthening and developing psychoanalysis in their communities; and second, to help create new psychoanalytic centers in geographic areas not currently connected to existing societies or Institutes of The American. The Ad Hoc Committee on New Psychoanalytic Centers (CNPC) met for the first time at the May meeting of The American in San Diego. CNPC is chaired by Lee Shershow and has two co-chairs, Richard A. Ruzumna and Alan Sugarman.
At present, The American has 41 societies and five study groups, serving approximately 38 metropolitan population centers. Several of these societies and study groups are fairly new, such as the Southwest Psychoanalytic Society in Arizona, which was just approved by the Executive Council at the San Diego meeting of The American. Four of the new societies or study groups have new training facilities associated with them.
The first function of CNPC will be to evaluate the needs of all new centers and assist their development. The CNPC will work closely with the Committee on Societies to enlist support and invigorate existing societies. When the new centers and new societies are well established, they will no longer need the support of CNPC, and they will become the sole responsibility of the Committee on Societies. Similarly, CNPC will work closely with BOPS's Committee on New Training Facilities (CNTF) in assisting study groups and new societies.
Many U.S. population centers lack any presence of The American. The non-American IPA Societies (IPS) have four groups, but they are located in two metropolitan areas with well-established groups of The American (New York and Los Angeles). Among areas without any societies of The American, there are at least 20 prospective sites with a population of 500,000–1,000,000 inhabitants, and several others have two to three million. One CNPC function will be to create a strategic plan and mount a campaign to approach these new geographic areas.
At its initial meeting, CNPC identified five areas that it could assist or that have potential to become psychoanalytic centers in the near future:
Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., the two cities covered by the new Southwest Psychoanalytic Society, which also plans additional outreach to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M.
Birmingham, Ala.
Charlotte, N.C.
Louisville, Ky.
Western New York state, including Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse.
CNPC members will be contacting analysts and other mental health professionals in these areas, to help assess the situation in each location and to help local and regional groups to develop methods of enhancing support for psychoanalysis.
CNPC plans to reach out to additional newer societies and other new areas over the next few years. Marvin Margolis, president of The American, has challenged CNPC to establish 20 new centers in the next four years. The core of the new groups will be members of The American, since certain numbers of members are required for the creation of new study groups or societies, but CNPC will also address anyone interested in psychoanalysis. This would include analysts trained at our institutes, analysts trained at institutes other than those of The American, non-analyst mental health professionals, academics, students, and other members of local communities. CNPC plans to cast its net as wide as possible, since its goal is to foster interest in psychoanalysis among all segments of the population and to generate active new societies.
In some of these areas, the new psychoanalytic center will remain small and loosely organized. In others, formal study groups could be organized as soon as five members of The American are practicing in the area. Eventually these groups will become new component societies.
Because the level of interest in psychoanalysis will vary widely at different locations, CNPC will devise appropriate methods of approaching each area. In some areas, there may be small numbers of analysts who need to be brought together with non-analytic mental health professionals. In other areas, small informal study groups could benefit from greater input from CNPC to help them become a more visible presence in their communities. Some locations could be encouraged to seek fully trained analysts to move to their area to develop new formal study groups under the Executive Council. CNPC will soon produce a brochure for the members of The American to acquaint them with such new professional opportunities.
CNPC will also work closely with new committees of The American that are or will be developing associate status for students, academics, and psychotherapists. The committee will include these people in its outreach efforts, especially those located in potential psychoanalytic centers. CNPC will also communicate with the American Psychoanalytic Foundation, to establish visiting professorships for potential new areas.
CNPC will obviously be in contact with analysts trained by The American who live in newly designated areas. I also ask readers of TAP to contact me with names of individuals who are not members of The American who live in the five areas listed above or in any other geographic areas not connected to existing societies or Institutes of The American. These people can be analysts trained at institutes other than those of The American, psychotherapists interested in psychodynamic psychotherapy, students, academics, or interested laymen. I will be compiling them into a database to assist CNPC efforts in the five areas and in future sites. Please write me at the following: Lee Shershow, M.D., 2253 Glendon Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90064. My office phone is 310-446-1911, my fax number is 310-446-1938, and my e-mail address is .
Lee Shersow, M.D., is a training and supervising analyst at the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. He was Director of Education at LAPSI from 1994 to 1997, and he is a member of the BOPS Committee on Institutes.