With no Scientific Meeting scheduled for June 2013, the Executive Council met for a condensed half-day meeting on June 9, 2013. In spite of the shorter meeting time, the Council deliberated and approved a number of governance-related issues, several important organizational issues affecting APsaA internally and externally, as well as a number of revised and new position statements. The Council also heard updates about several ongoing Association initiatives.
The Executive Council approved a new committee on Advocacy for Children. It also approved two position statements brought forward by the new Committee on the Status of Women and Girls. One statement expressed APsaA's support for the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the other position statement endorsed the U.S. ratification of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, neither of which has yet been approved by the United States. The Executive Council also approved an updated position statement on physical punishment and heard a report that this is one of the most visited pages on APsaA's website.
Seven extraordinary individuals, including researchers, clinicians, and writers, were unanimously awarded Honorary Membership. These are Jack Barchas, Beatrice Beebe, Jeffrey Berman, Erik Hesse, Frank Lachmann, Allan N. Schore, and Jonathan Shay.
Warren Procci highlighted several initiatives connected to the implementation of APsaA's Strategic Plan in his detailed update for Council. A campaign to support research in the efficacy of psychoanalysis is being planned. The coming fiscal year's budget was based on the strategic priorities identified in the plan for the first time. A new Membership Committee is forming to focus on making sure the membership is aware of the value of APsaA membership. Implementation of the top priorities of the strategic plan is ongoing.
Among the governance issues, the Council acting as the Nominating Committee selected candidates to run for president-elect, treasurer, and councilor-at-large in January. The Council also elected members from the Council to fill vacancies on six Council committees, and the Council elected new members of the JAPA Editorial Board. Proposed bylaw revisions were approved which would allow for (a) one BOPS Fellow from each APsaA institute not needing to be certified or a training analyst; and (b) the creation of a new membership category for non-clinical candidates. The membership will vote on the proposed bylaw revisions in January 2014.
Procci, as chair of the Council Task Force on Temporary Objective and Verifiable Requirements for TA Appointment, updated the Executive Council on the plans being put in place to operationalize the Executive Council's policy of appointing training analysts on the basis of objective and verifiable criteria.
Richard Lightbody, chair of the Task Force on Externalizing Certification, presented the report of this BOPS task force. The task force outlined a plan that would establish an independent entity, the American Board of Psychoanalysis (ABP). The APB would initially conduct a certification process similar to that currently operating within APsaA but would implement changes to the process going forward. The discussion that followed in the Executive Council meeting revealed that, though there had been strong support in Council for externalizing certification, this particular plan outlined by the task force was seen as only one of several options that needed further consideration by the Executive Council.
Other organizational issues addressed during the Council meeting included the approval of the proposed FY 2014 budget, a name change for the Committee on the Status of Women to the Committee on the Status of Women and Girls, the creation of a Committee on Advocacy for Children, and the approval of the 2013-2014 Class of Fellows.