Over the past severalyears, APsaA has devoted a great deal of member resources as well as financial resourcesto promoting the role of psychoanalysis and the contribut ions of psychoanalytic ideas to the community at large.
Dottie Jeffries has been appointed as the first public affairs director of the American Psychoanalytic Association. She has been the public relations consultant to the Association for the past four years, and in that capacity has helped guide us into a new era of openness and outreach to the public and to the media.
In many ways, Jeffries' new role will involve a co ntinuation of her work with various committees of APsaA, but it will expand her reach as the organization furthers its public affairs efforts. Components and individual members can call upon her for advice regarding (but not limited to) the following:
Local outreach initiatives.
Local efforts in media relations.
Issues pertaining to marketing of programs, including direct mail marketing, promotional pieces, and publicity for said events.
Joint sponsorship of events.
Marketing materials for candidate recruitment and other training programs.
Resources where more can be learned about fundraising.
This change also reflects APsaA's awareness of the central importance of public relations and marketing to the ongoing health of our Association.
Under the guidance of Glenn Good, APsaA has been involved in a strategic marketing initiative for the last several years. The resulting market research report (the research was conducted by Lee Zacharias) has been distributed to all institutes and societies. Members can download the report from the closed section of apsa.org in order to study it and its recommendations.
APsaA president Newell Fisher has initiated a new e-mail list, “Brainstorming,” in which all members are invited and encouraged to participate. The issues to be discussed on “Brainstorming” repre sent some of the most important challenges to the profession of psychoanalysis and the Association. A rich and thoughtful discussion will serve us well as we think and plan for the future.
The list's motto expresses this sentiment very directly: “All ideas are valued. Focus and civility will help.” The first topic of discussion, which began at the end of September 2002, concerned the implications of the strategic marketing report and how to help our patients, ourselves, the futureof psychoanalysis, and APsaA.
This column describing the benefits of membership in APsaA willap pear from time to time. For a full list of benefits, see and click on “Member Benefits.” Leon Hoffman, M.D., chairs the Committee on Membership.