In its most significant action at the San Francisco meeting, the Board on Professional Standards considered the bylaw amendment proposed by then-president Newell Fischer and the compromise version then being developed. The Board voted to support the compromise version. (For further information on this issue, see bylaw article, page 20.)
In other matters before the Board, the Committee on Child and Adolescent Analysis (COCAA) recommended that a candidate in a combined educational program in both adult and child/adolescent psychoanalysis be permitted to graduate from her or his institute as a full graduate, if the child/adolescent training is completed first. The motion passed with one opposed and no abstentions. The recommendation does not cover eligibility for full membership in APsaA.
COCAA also reviewed the progress of the four pilot programs for separate track training in child/adolescent psychoanalysis. St. Louis has three candidates in its pilot program; Houston-Galveston has two candidates enrolled, with two candidates about to enter; Denver has one potential candidate who will begin in the fall; and Columbia has one candidate and sees the possibility for another.
CORE, the Committee on Research and Education, is conducting a study of candidates in the pilot program. So far, there are five candidates in these pilot programs from whom data, both qualitative and quantitative, has been obtained. These candidates feel positive about the programs and instructors are rating them as similar to or better than other members of the cohort. (See page 7 for more on child-centered training.)
Michael Singer reported that there were 11 first-time applicants and 5 continued applicants for certification at this meeting. Seven applicants were certified.
Prefatory to Michael Singer's remarks on completing his term as chairman of the Certification Committee, BOPS chair Ronald Benson commended Singer on remaining detached, involved, and steadfast despite working in the midst of a hurricane. Looking back over his six years as chairman of the Committee on Certification, Singer remarked, “Certification has not only survived but has improved and is on a good track.”
He took issue with several arguments against certification. The first argument, he said, states that since there is no unified theory of psychoanalysis, the certification procedure must be flawed. Singer said that because there is no unified theory, because psychoanalysis can mean different things to different people, and risks being everything and nothing, certification is essential. It makes more sense for the procedure to account for multiple points of view and be tested for reliability in that regard.
Second, Singer stated, some maintain that the validation graduation from an institute confers should be regarded as a stamp of competency. He argued that as imperfect as certification is, it is still a review by a diverse group of peers independent of the home institute and establishes a national standard.
Singer closed his remarks stating his support for recertification and for an independent credentialing board.
Stuart Hauser, reporting for the Committee on Research Education, said CORE is involved in studying the reliability of the APsaA certification procedure. He said that there have been encouraging results in studying the inter-rater reliability of members of the Certification Committee. CORE will now see, he said, how senior educators outside of BOPS and the Committee on Certification rate the same items.
Myrna Weiss, reporting for the Committee on Institutes (COI), said CORE will participate, for the first time, in a site visit. The first institute to participate is the Baltimore-Washington Institute for Psychoanalysis, which will be visited in the spring of 2005. The intention is to better integrate research into candidate training.
Additionally, COI in its report did not support the concept of a new status of associate training analyst. The COI members believe that institutes should instead encourage individuals to become full training analysts. Benson emphasized that a majority of those institutes opposed the proposal for associate status.
Jon Meyer, however, asked that a successor group to the Task Force on Training Analyst Standards take up the issue of providing a waiver for potential candidates who are in productive analyses with non-training analysts. He believes that this situation will become more prevalent in the future.
The Berkshires New Training Facility has accepted four candidates and will start its first class in the fall of 2004.
The Committee on Research and Special Training (CORST) is clarifying its policy on waivers, by which it grants permission to institutes to provide full analytic training to academics without clinical degrees. The changes being stressed concern the rigors of the process. CORST wants applicants to be productive in research that will advance psychoanalysis. Melvin Lansky pointed out that the Committee on Preparedness and Progress (COPAP) waiver is for individuals who are seeking psychoanalytic training in order to change careers. The CORST waiver, in contrast, is intended for scholars who will continue to work in their primary fields.
Ronald Benson, in his parting remarks at the conclusion of his tenure as chairman of the Board of Professional Standards, said that his tenure seemed short but also seems to have encompassed an entire era. He took office during the Education and Membership Initiative. Beginning there, a comprehensive rethinking of APsaA's identity as an organization, culminating in the Executive Committee's Task Force on Reorganization has taken place.
He said the world does not stand still and standards need continued scrutiny and revision. The functions of the BOPS, he said, must be included in any reorganization process.
Benson received a standing ovation from the fellows.