I fell in love with newsletters back when I was a kid and edited my first one — a one-page rag reporting on the activities of my kindergarten class. I've remained infatuated with this medium. Since not too many people profess such a passion, let me explain my editorial point of view in this, my inaugural issue as editor of TAP.
A newsletter helps create a community at the same time as it reflects its activities. Newsletters can hold people together, foster progressive change, maintain values, facilitate the productive resolution of conflict. Newsletters can cheer us on, providing the appreciation and validation everyone needs to keep going. Newsletters present the values, identity, and accomplishments of a community to the outside world. At the same time, newsletters are humble; homely, prosaic, not glamorous. I like those qualities too. A newsletter is not a peer-reviewed journal that adds to the present body of scientific knowledge. Instead, it offers a quick read, running articles on subjects that wouldn't appear in the scientific press.
What changes can you expect to see in TAP? Not too many, since I was lucky enough to inherit a superb periodical, edited by my predecessor, Bill Jeffrey. We will continue to —
Report extensively on outreach efforts and the application of psychoanalytic ideas to new and ever-expanding areas of endeavor and thought.
Report on the internal proceedings, politics, and activities of our own organization and allied groups.
Bring you reports from interesting events, discussions, and dialogues occurring at our national meetings, since many members don't have a chance to attend every meeting.
Serve as an historical record of the present-day doings of the American and a record of the history of psychoanalysis in America.
Report on psychoanalytic education, both the “old gold” and innovative efforts.
Three very different, but equally vital and relatively new areas of the American's activity deserve and will receive particular, ongoing attention: issues related to practice and marketing (if this word makes you cringe, see Leon Hoffman's article on page 4), political analysis and activism, and psychoanalytic science.
Who is TAP written (and edited) for? Primarily, it is a newsletter for the members of our Association, to keep you informed, involved, and inspired. But TAP can also be a great resource for our public information efforts. The American (and individual analysts) can use it to inform journalists and the public about our perspective, the riches of psychoanalysis, and our many initiatives. I think TAP can handily and gracefully fulfill both of these functions.
You'll see just enough changes in the issues ahead to keep you interested in reading TAP. I plan to start regular columns reporting on psychoanalytic science, public policy, and technology. The first of these topical columns, Steve Portuges's “Psychoanalytic Science for the Clinical Psychoanalyst,” debuts in this issue. A small box, “Tech Notes,” will start next issue; its aim is to educate us about aspects of technology and communications relevant to our work. The article by Sallye Wilkinson on page 17 is the first of a series of reports on special psychoanalytic curricula.
I hope I can count on all the members of the American, and readers of TAP from “outside” as well, to provide me with a great deal of feedback, on what you see in the newsletter and what you don't, on what you like and what you hate. I welcome formal letters to the editor, but also comments both positive and negative offered more informally by phone or e-mail (). I welcome story ideas, ideas for special sections, and volunteers who want to write articles. TAP, like the American today, plans to be inclusive and vibrant — forward and outward looking. Being appointed editor of TAP is an honor and privilege for me. Please read on.