In a hard-fought election, Jon Meyer defeated Allan Rosenblatt for the office of president. Meyer will serve as president-elect for two years, beginning with the May 2002 meeting, and then will succeed Newell Fischer as president in 2004.
Meyer, who received 725 votes to Rosenblatt's 600, won 55 percent of the votes cast. Fifty-one percent of eligible members cast ballots, compared to 49 percent in the preceding election.
For this election, the by-laws amendments (passed last summer) granting affiliate members the vote were not yet in effect. In all future votes, including the election of officers, all members, including affiliate members, will have full voting rights.
Meyer told TAP that he considered last fall's campaign “a very democratic election
Photo by Jacques Gourguechon
that reflected a debate about the meaning of certification“ and the debate over training analyst status.
“The association is debating and discussing these issues, and it needs to happen through all possible media: white papers, meetings, conversations, TAP, and electronic communications,” Meyer said. “The only other thing I'm concerned about, and it should not get lost — and it may have gotten lost a little in the election — is that we have to pay attention to the world at large. Privacy and confidentiality are far from secure. Access to [high-quality health care] is by no means easy. Part of the job of president is not only to be sure that we reach some consensus internally, but also [to make sure] we pay attention to the world at large and expand our role in the world.”
Regarding internal affairs, Meyer added that among psychoanalytic organizations he knows, we are unique in having a proud history as a truly national organization. “To work toward a national consensus on matters of importance is a higher calling.”
Meyer has ambitious goals for his presidency, which were spelled out in his platform. He would like to begin implementing them during his term as president-elect, if the president and Executive Committee are supportive. Among those initiatives:
Develop a model mental health plan for third-party payers.
Develop appropriate documents defining standards for “medical necessity” in psychoanalysis.
Develop treatment guidelines for psychoanalysis and dynamic psychotherapy, with a corresponding diagnostic manual relevant to psychoanalysis.
Work with the American Psychiatric Association as it helps corporations revise their mental health benefits.
Warren Procci defeated Vivian Pender for the office of treasurer. Procci won 65 percent of the 1,304 votes cast. He will assume the treasurer's office in May 2002, succeeding Allan Compton.
Procci emphasizes the need for the treasurer to be sensitive to the varied budgetary needs of the organization. He explains how the ability of the APsaA's many creative, innovative, and energetic members to initiate and run terrific and important programs can conflict with the reality of the association's relatively static budget. It would be great, says Procci, if we could find new sources of revenue generation. As a member of the Executive Committee, Procci hopes to help eliminate any vestige of two-tiered membership. He supports reaching out to like-minded organizations to achieve common psychoanalytic goals.
Also elected were Nancy Kulish and Eric Marcus, winning out over Jonah Schein and Arthur Farley for two councilor-at-large positions. Thanks to the new simplified rules for councilor-at-large ballots, far fewer ballots had to be declared ineligible (21 compared to 90-120 ineligible ballots in earlier councilor-at-large elections).
At the upcoming May meeting, candidates for the position of secretary and councilor-at-large will be selected by the Executive Council.