For more than fifty years the American Psychoanalytic Association has struggled with ambiguities in its governance structure engendered by its hybrid nature as both a membership and an educational organization. This has frequently led to power struggles between the Executive Council (membership) and the Board on Professional Standards (education), which impaired the Executive Committee's ability to function effectively. Efforts to correct this structural uncertainty have failed to solve the problem.
About two and a half years ago, another effort was launched with the formation of the Joint Task Force on Education and Membership. The task force, of which we were both members, included a number of past presidents and chairs of the Board and members currently active in the work of the Association.
After more than a year of deliberation, the task force presented its recommendations to the Board and Council. Both groups overwhelmingly approved the proposals, which envisioned a cooperative, consultative relationship between the two bodies by defining their respective responsibilities and authority. The proposals also extended the rights of members and enfranchised our affiliate members. The proposal called for the creation of a procedure manual and certain by-law amendments. These amendments were, in turn, endorsed by a nearly unanimous vote of our members.
Why do we believe that this most recent plan will be successful when so many previous efforts have failed? Obviously it is too soon to tell, but there are encouraging signs of a transformation. This process began in the task force itself. The internal process of the group, co-chaired by two presidents and two chairs of the Board, reflected a new spirit of collegiality and cooperation among its members, who were able to look beyond their parochial concerns to a more inclusive organizational perspective.
In spite of the fact that there were three different BOPS chairs within six months, this new collaborative spirit carried over into the Executive Committee. Meanwhile, some of our members were mobilizing on our Open Line e-mail list to register their dissatisfaction with the current system of certification. This is hardly surprising: Certification has been the prime topic of debate for more than thirty years in this governance struggle. This time, in spite of predictions of major clashes, a spirited constructive debate led to a joint project to learn the opinions of our members about certification. The Board has initiated a study of the experiences of recent applicants for certification. A committee has been appointed to review and make recommendations about certification; its members reflect a range of opinions on the topic.
Concurrent with this governance and certification reappraisal, the Association has never been more vital. Our many committees (more than seventy-five) maintain an impressive array of activities on behalf of psychoanalysis and psychoanalysts. The scope of these endeavors often gets overlooked in the governance struggles.
Traditionally we have looked to our Board on Professional Standards to promote the excellence of our institutes' training programs and to ensure the high professional standards of our profession. The Board accomplishes these and other goals through its own committees and task forces.
The Committee on Institutes (COI) performs its accrediting functions while gaining the trust of the institutes as an active partner in their efforts to recruit and train candidates and stimulate faculty. The COI's posture of collegial consultation has been effective both in helping individual institutes with difficulties and in suggesting innovations for all institutes. The Committee on New Training Facilities has added direct sponsorship as a model for developing new institutes. Through selective use of both models (direct sponsorship and sponsorship by an existing institute), we have been able to help our colleagues start training facilities in their locales.
In addition to discussing new approaches to training child and adolescent analysts, the Committee on Child and Adolescent Analysis facilitates applicants' education in this field. Working with its new Council counterpart, the COCAA is disseminating public information on analysis for children and adolescents.
The Committee on Accreditation of Freestanding Institutes is actively engaged in discussions with several educational institutions to ascertain their interest and potential for affiliation with our Association. Even while its functions occupy the center of vigorous organizational debate, the Committee on Certification continues to review applicants applying for certification. The Committee on Research and Special Training maintains relationships with members of the academic community and facilitates full analytic training of academics who wish to enrich their academic and research careers with an in-depth psychoanalytic understanding. The Committee on the Impaired Faculty Analyst consults with institutes to establish local colleague-assistance programs. When it becomes a joint committee, this effort will be extended to societies as well.
The Committee on Psychoanalytic Education conducts ongoing studies of psychoanalytic pedagogy and publishes an excellent newsletter on the Association's Web site. The Board's newest standing committee, the Committee on Research Education, will seek ways to incorporate research ideas into the psychoanalytic curriculum and to develop faculty and candidates' appreciation of the relevance of research.
While the Board's activities are directed to our institutes, their faculties, and candidates, the
Dick Fox is president of APsaA. Ronald Benson is chair of BOPS.
Executive Council focuses on our societies and members. In recent years it has expanded its mandate beyond parochial issues. The APsaA is instrumental in promoting psychoanalysis and protecting it from many challenges, an emphasis that complements our commitment to high quality education and practice.
We strive to present contemporary psychoanalysis to an under-informed public and professional audience. Psychoanalysis as a topic and psychoanalysts as individuals have made a reappearance in the public media, giving a psychoanalytic perspective on the issues of the day. We have sponsored focus groups throughout the country to explore how we are seen by the lay and professional public. The findings suggest we have much to do to correct negative impressions. Our Marketing Committee is currently developing a strategy to address this.
We work to inform the public, legislators, and courts of the importance of confidentiality in providing a safe environment for therapy and analysis. We have made important allies, including the ACLU and the Alliance for Mental Health, as we present our case in Congress, government agencies, and the courts. Recently our Peer Review Committee issued new practice guidelines that emphasize the centrality of privacy in our therapeutic endeavors.
Our role in protecting the public in its right to obtain good mental health care is reflected in the work of BOPS, our Ethics Committee, and the Committee on the Impaired Analyst. We recently published an Ethics Case Book, a groundbreaking development in furthering professional ethics education for psychoanalysts. It may also prove a valuable resource for other mental health practitioners.
In recent years the APsaA has taken a more significant role in the International Psychoanalytical Association and in organizing a regional North American Psychoanalytic Confederation. In the United States, our work with the Psychoanalytic Consortium has helped establish minimal standards for psychoanalytic education and helped in the effort to develop the American Council on Psychoanalytic Education. We continue to pursue outreach to psychoanalytic and other mental health organizations. Our outreach to educational institutions extends from preschool to graduate and professional schools.
Our journal, JAPA, sets the standard for psychoanalytic journals around the world. An updated version of the PEP CD-ROM compendium that became available in 2001 gives rapid access to the psychoanalytic literature. Our well-attended meetings offer presentations, papers, panels, and discussion groups on a variety of topics related to psychoanalysis. Research is finding a much more prominent place in our organizational priorities; new committees have been appointed and old ones revitalized as we focus on the importance of research for our profession. The Executive Committee's science advisor has added a scientific perspective to our discussions and planning. Our new category of affiliation, research associate, is designed to facilitate communication between psychoanalysts and non-member researchers.
Although space limitations prevent a full cataloging of APsaA's many undertakings — for example, new committees devoted to child analysis and psychotherapy training — it is abundantly clear that our Association is thriving and making invaluable efforts on behalf of psychoanalysis and psychoanalysts. Our members have a great deal of which to be proud.