What an exciting and stimulating time it has been for all involved in the Affiliate Council and the American during the last two years. In my first TAP article in 1999, I listed three major goals I wished to pursue: (1) maximum participation of affiliate members in the Affiliate Council, with an emphasis on encouraging new members to become involved in leadership roles and committees; (2) pursuit of excellence in the training of candidates; and (3) implementing the affiliates' request that they become voting members of the American. We have made considerable progress on all these goals.
Although the number of candidates who are affiliate members is approximately the same as it was two years ago — 750, or 79 percent of all candidates — the number of affiliates actively involved in Affiliate Council meetings, membership in committees, and local candidate groups suggests that many more affiliates are actually involved and enthusiastic about our organization. Our affiliate breakfasts have been well attended; Affiliate Council meetings have generated stimulating discussions; and the Executive Committee and all the committee chairs have done outstanding work in broadening participation. Many new delegates to the council have become involved in projects and have been chosen to chair committees. Recent issues of the Affiliate Council Newsletter conveyed the rich array of local affiliate organizations' activities.
More active participation is the result of the work of two extremely effective committees: Affiliate Participation, chaired by Nancy Bleiden, and Local Candidates' Organizations, previously chaired by Gail Glenn and now by Sheri Hunt. At the beginning of my term, a major concern was that financial hardship would keep affiliate members from serving as officers and committee chairs. However, this past June we had a full slate for our election. The new Executive Committee is as follows: Jane Walvoord, president; Nancy Bleiden, president-elect; Betty Feintuch, treasurer; Christine Kieffer, secretary; and Howard Weiner, chair of the Nominations Committee.
With the help of Walvoord, who submitted a proposal for travel grants to the American Psychoanalytic Foundation, we now have a means to help candidates with financial constraints to participate in the fall and spring meetings of the APsaA. The foundation has graciously awarded the Affiliate Council $10,000 for a two-year period, to be used for travel grants to candidates. Individual grants are to be matched by local institutes.
In addition to showing financial need, applicants should be involved in community service, leaders within their local institutes, and willing to present cases and/or papers at the national meetings. Their local society or foundation must be able to provide a match of $500 or more. Special consideration will be made for candidates in new institutes where a match may not be available. We are currently setting up a committee, chaired by Alice Rogan, to oversee the awarding of the travel grants. Interested candidates should e-mail her at .
The Executive Committee's effort regarding the pursuit of excellence in training of candidates has been threefold. First, we have attempted to maximize the opportunity for affiliate members to share their training experiences; second, we have recently completed a detailed questionnaire, developed in collaboration with Project 2000, in which candidates were asked to evaluate their training experiences; finally, we are continuing to award the Scientific Paper Prize for the year's outstanding paper on psychoanalysis written by an affiliate member.
A portion of each Affiliate Council meeting is devoted to round-robin discussions of topics of critical importance in the American. Our meetings have included two sessions with members from Project 2000, which led to enthusiastic discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of psychoanalytic education at present. We focused on analysis, supervision, teaching, and institute ambiance.
We are looking forward to joint sponsorship of a forum on analytic identity with Project 2000 at the December meetings, where faculty and candidates at Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research will demonstrate an innovative style of teaching. Our Program Committee, chaired by Barbara Rosen, has been very active in presenting candidates' issues at the winter and spring meetings.
We have also continued our popular “Breakfasts With Distinguished Analysts” program, where affiliates can share their thoughts and questions with senior analysts in an informal setting. Paula Hamm has invited outstanding analysts for the next in the series: Bob Pyles on Friday, December 15, and Marianne Goldberger on Saturday, December 16.
The winner of the Scientific Paper Prize for the best affiliate paper on psychoanalysis will present his or her winning paper at the December meetings. Joan Lynch, who has been in charge of the competition for the past two years, continues to do an excellent job of promoting the competition. Ten papers have been submitted in this year's competition. The Affiliate Council received an additional $500 from the American Psychoanalytic Foundation to supplement the stipend for this year. (It had been cut from $1,000 to $500 because of budgetary concerns.)
We are encouraged about the request of the delegates of the Affiliate Council for full membership. Jane Walvoord and I have been honored to participate on the Task Force on Education and Membership. The task force's current proposal grants voting privileges to affiliate members. Sheri Hunt, Chair of the Committee on Local Candidates' Organizations, is working with the affiliate delegates to further discussion of the task forces proposals in local institutes and societies. The Affiliate Council has worked hard to become knowledgeable about affairs of the American. We have invited officers from Board and Council to speak to us on issues of governance and certification. The two editors of the Affiliate Council Newsletter, Julie Tepper and Andrea Weiss, have done an outstanding job in keeping us informed on past and present issues of the American.
The Executive Committee of the Affiliate Council would especially like to thank the current and past Executive Committee of the American for the emotional and financial support they have shown the Affiliate Council. These past two years have been rewarding for me. I will miss the vibrancy of the Affiliate Council very much.
Nancy M. Brehm, Ph.D., completes her term as president of the Affiliate Council in December. She is on the faculty of PINE and hopes to continue her work on Project 2000.