In a surprise turn of events, BOPS members mounted a loud protest when Dick Fox moved to have them vote on the report of the Task Force on Education and Membership. Fox insisted that the task force report could only be approved or voted down as a package, since it contained carefully crafted checks and balances. Initiating the protest, Bob Michels said it was inappropriate to present the recommendations as a package, since the report linked together “unrelated issues,” thereby “disenfranchising” Board fellows and representing an undemocratic process.
Many fellows echoed the complaint that the presentation was undemocratic. Others demanded more time to discuss the proposals. A final version had been circulated by mail to all fellows in mid-October, and the report had been presented to the Board and discussed at the May 2000 Annual Meeting.
The primary objection of most of the vocal Board fellows was the inclusion of the affiliate vote in the package. Alan Sugarman said that the affiliate vote needed further study. Boyd Burris was concerned, on behalf of his colleagues at the Baltimore-Washington Institute, that if voting rights were given to candidates nationally, candidates would be likely to want the same right locally. Mike Singer said that candidate voting rights had been tacked onto the package and should not be included.
“The primary objection of most of the vocal Board fellows was the inclusion of the affiliate vote in the package. … Besides affiliate voting rights, the central points of the recommended changes include giving BOPS much greater participation in the budgetary process and more clearly delineating the jurisdiction and relative autonomy of the Board.”
Todd Davison, speaking in favor of the candidate vote, said, “We've treated candidates like children.” Gerry Melchiode pointed out that residents vote in the American Psychiatric Association. He raised the question, “What is the danger to the educational process of having candidates have full voting rights?”
Besides affiliate voting rights, the central points of the recommended changes include giving BOPS much greater participation in the budgetary process and more clearly delineating the jurisdiction and relative autonomy of the Board. The document was crafted with intensive effort, over twelve months, by a twenty-member task force consisting of prominent members of the Board, the Executive Committee, and Council committees.
Although he was a major architect of the task force report, former BOPS chair Don Rosenblitt stood to say, “There seems to be a lot to be said for tabling and further discussion.” He stated that during the work of the task force, he had been opposed to addressing candidate voting in the document, although he supported it personally. His concern was that candidate voting hadn't been talked about enough.
The absence of enthusiastic support for the package during the meeting was surprising, since BOPS leaders had been full partners in crafting the package of recommendations of the task force and had endorsed the package unanimously. Fox pointed out that the
recommended package could not be sent back to the task force for further work, as the group had unanimously endorsed these recommendations and had completed its work, which had been costly for the organization.
Bob Pyles contended that the document is about establishing a balance of power between Board and Council, so as to minimize the friction that has dissipated the energy of the organization.
Fox then withdrew the motion. Subsequently, the Board chose to vote a “sense of the Board” on the individual issues contained within the report, with the exception of the affiliates' vote. All were given a positive vote with a wide margin.
Though most Board members were leaning toward tabling the issue of the candidates' vote, Jon Meyer urged a vote on that matter. Rosenblitt insisted such a vote should represent only a “very preliminary” sense of the Board. With this caveat, a majority of Board fellows indicated their support of the affiliates' vote.
The Board tabled the licensing document proposed by the consortium.
Leon Hoffman and Calvern Narcisi reported that the consortium was nearing completion of a document concerning accreditation, which will accredit institutes as opposed to individuals (licensing). This document will be presented to Council and Board at the May meeting.
Nancy Brehm gave her final report as president of the Affiliate Council, and the Board expressed its appreciation for her efforts and dedication. She reminded the Board of the availability of travel grants for candidates to attend national meetings.
Ellen Rowntree, for the Committee on New Training Facilities, reported on the committee's work to support the Kansas City new training facility as it prepares to absorb some training analysts and candidates from Topeka. The Topeka Institute will soon shut down in concert with the relocation of the Menninger Institute to Texas. Kansas City will move from being sponsored by the Topeka Institute to the direct sponsorship model currently in use in Minnesota. (This model is expected to be used in the Berkshires when a sufficient number of training analysts is present.)
Ron Benson reported on the findings of the ad hoc Committee on Telephone Analysis. Emphasizing that he was not presenting a final report, Benson gave the committee's preliminary recommendations, which included support of the principle that non-verbal communication is an important part of an analysis. Therefore, telephone analysis should be conducted for as brief a period as possible and should always be preceded by a significant period of in-person analysis.
Mike Singer, chair of the Certification Committee, announced that thirty-one members applied for certification at the Fall Meeting in December 2000 in New York. Twenty-five of them were first-time applicants, and six were continued applicants. (See the box on page 32 for the list of newly certified members.)
Mary Scharold reported on COPAP's survey of master's-level candidates and graduates and institutes. Results of the survey are reported on page 32.
Leon Hoffman noted that a brochure on “What Does a Child Analyst Do?” is in the works.
The Committee on Psychoanalytic Education (COPE) is looking at how it can better disseminate the findings of its study groups, according to committee chair Larry Inderbitzen. A presence for COPE on the APsaA Web page is anticipated, as is a history of the committee's work.
The Ethics Committee's new draft guidelines were amended as recommended by the Committee on Child and Adolescent Analysis, with recommendations by Howard Levine's Joint Committee on Confidentiality to be added later. Approved by both Board and Council, the guidelines will now go to the American's lawyers and be presented to Board and Council in final form at the Annual Meeting in May. Fellows noted the need to rethink issues of confidentiality in relation to case reporting, consultation, etc.
Jerry Winer, chair of the Impaired Analyst Committee, reminded the Board that a local institute must have a mechanism to deal with impairment or be legally vulnerable should an analyst run into difficulties. A member of the committee is available as liaison to each institute.
Thirteen analysts were approved for training analyst status at the recommendation of the Committee on Institutes (see the box at right).
The Board's leaders demonstrated a new level of openness about Board activity. For the first time, minutes of BOPS meetings were made generally available and will be posted on the members' e-mail list. The editor of TAP was invited by Engle and Narcisi to attend meetings of the Coordinating Committee (which consists of BOPS officers, the Executive Committee, and chairs of all Board committees and meets four times per year) in order to provide APsaA members with the greatest possible access to information about the work of the Board.
Corrections
Several photo credits in TAP 34/4 were misattributed. On page 11, the photograph of Mary Scharold and Jean Gates was taken by Michael Colman. Anna Janicki, not Mervin Stewart, took the photograph of Susan Vaughan with friends and family on page 34. Ellen Fertig photographed Nerissa Steele, Allan Compton, and Edawne McIntosh on page 34.