Four officers of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Lynne Moritz, Prudy Gourguechon, Eric Nuetzel, and Jon Meyer are proposing a complete set of new bylaws for the Association.
Ballots for the proposed bylaws will be mailed to all voting members of the Association and must be returned by December 18, 2006.
The mailing will be separate from the balloting for secretary and councilors-at-large this fall. To be adopted, the proposed bylaws must be passed by two-thirds of the members voting.
On the following pages we are printing a statement in support of Renew the American Plan written by Prudy Gourguechon and Eric Nuetzel, and a statement in opposition to the plan written by Paul M. Brinich, Lila J. Kalinich, Paul W. Mosher, and Warren R. Procci. TAP has also prepared a chart highlighting key elements in the plan.
These are extraordinary times for our organization, and extraordinary action is needed. For almost two decades now, APsaA has been living a paradox. We have ever more new initiatives—outreach of all kinds, vigorous political advocacy, and public information successes. Our members are constantly thinking of new efforts to widen the impact of psychoanalysis within our culture, improve psychoanalytic education, and disseminate theory. Yet we are increasingly mired in internecine political struggles that sap our energy, demoralize us, and pull our focus away from the issues that should have our attention.
Every member can vote this fall on a complete new set of bylaws for APsaA known as the Plan to Renew the American. This is historic; these will be the first new bylaws in half a century. Passing the proposed bylaws will give APsaA a solid basis for growth for the next half century. The plan respects our founding traditions, beliefs, and values as it provides for the democracy, flexibility, and inclusiveness vital for a modern, growing organization.
Governance must be a means to an end, not an end in itself. Yet governance sometimes seems all that we talk about. Our current bylaws, we have learned, are out of compliance with New York State not-for-profit law. Our attorney tells us that changes must be made in our bylaws to bring them into compliance; these changes must be in the form of bylaw amendments. Efforts to craft a reorganization proposal over a two-year period ran aground at the January 2006 Council meeting. Some members identified with education increasingly felt that they no longer could have a home in our organization. They argued that some sort of separation or externalization of our educational functions was necessary.
Passing the proposed bylaws will give APsaA a solid basis for growth for the next half century. The plan respects our founding traditions, beliefs, and values as it provides for the democracy, flexibility, and inclusiveness vital for a modern, growing organization.
Due to concerns about the possibility of the Association fragmenting or splitting, we, along with Lynne Moritz and Jon Meyer, prepared a draft of new bylaws. We had them vetted by our attorney as required by our current bylaws, and we subsequently presented the package to the Council and the membership. In June, the Council voted to approve the new bylaws. We have had a very open and spirited discussion. All members should give careful consideration to the content of the plan.
The plan preserves much of our current governance. It also offers some vital changes:
A small Board of Directors will consist of 15 analysts nominated regionally and directly elected by all the members, the officers, and five additional “public members” who can provide expertise in areas like finance, law, and fundraising.
BOPS functions are divided into two entities: A Council of Institutes (a Committee of the Corporation whose actions must be approved by the Board of Directors) is responsible for all educational functions but two. The second entity is a subsidiary non-profit corporation, run by a Board of Managers, responsible for accrediting institutes and certifying graduate members. The Board of Managers is appointed by the parent Board of Directors, and contains six representatives from institutes, four from societies, and one each from the Affiliates and Researchers and Scholars Councils.
Prudy Gourguechon, M.D., APsaA President-Elect
Eric Nuetzel, M.D., Chair of the Board on Professional Standards
All members of APsaA can serve in all capacities, including in the Council of Institutes and the subsidiary (an exception: Affiliates can serve on the Board of Directors but cannot hold office).
Certification is removed from the bylaws. Standards will now be the province of the subsidiary and the Institute Council, subject to oversight and input as described above, creating a strong yet flexible educational system.
A Societies Council will succeed the Executive Council. While no longer having board of directors responsibilities, this representative body will have much more strength and freedom to pursue the vital interests of societies.
A Council for Research and Scholarship that will provide an organizational home for these essential activities.
A spirit of compromise and balance are embedded in the plan. This is why a complete bylaw overhaul is necessary. Others have argued strenuously that a step-by-step process of change is better. That approach simply will not work as balance (of power, of value systems, of belief systems, of needs) and compromise cannot be achieved without addressing the system as a whole.
We have significant disagreements within our Association: the questions of the value of certification, the best TA system, and many others. Now, we try to resolve differences by engaging the conflict between, not within governance structures: Council vs. BOPS, Executive Committee vs. Council, members vs. BOPS, etc. This is a prescription for chaos and irresolvable conflict. The Plan to Renew the American does not resolve our conflicts. It provides solid structures within which those questions can be debated, resolved, and then debated and resolved again. And it provides solid checks and balances to make sure members' interests are always met.
The Plan to Renew the American does not resolve our conflicts. It provides solid structures within which those questions can be debated, resolved, and then debated and resolved again. And it provides solid checks and balances to make sure members' interests are always met.
APsaA needs your “yes” vote on the bylaws. It needs you and everyone you know to actively work for the bylaws' passage. The alternative to passage? More years of stasis, mistrust, and organizational fragmentation. Change is overdue. We look forward to seeing the potential of APsaA to do good and expand exponentially when our governance problems are resolved by the establishment of a modern, adaptable new governance structure. We ask for your help in passing the Plan to Renew the American. Our profession has everything to gain.