You might say APsaA runs in my blood. My dad, Alvin Michaels, a psychiatrist from Michigan, attended his first APsaA meeting in 1963, before I was born. While my dad started early, I came relatively late to APsaA, and to my career in psychology. With all the ambivalence of a child of a psychiatrist and an artist, I found myself drifting into a career in the business world after college. I stayed for over 15 years, with an MBA along the way, and helped companies grow and develop through marketing, innovation, and branding. While traveling the world and working abroad was exciting, I grew disillusioned with the work and longed for something with more meaning and depth. Working with my therapist, I came to terms with myself sufficiently to join the family business, so to speak, and become a psychologist. This return to my roots brought me to APsaA. Participating in the meetings and the work with my father have been a deeply moving and gratifying experience for us both.
I connected with APsaA in new ways after putting my business skills to good use and co-founding the Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN). At PsiAN, a grassroots advocacy organization, open
Linda Michaels, PsyD, MBA, is a psychologist in private practice in Chicago. She serves as co-chair of the Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN), an associate editor of “Psychoanalytic Inquiry,” and a fellow of the Lauder Institute Global MBA program.
to all disciplines and theoretical orientations, our mission is to advocate for therapies of depth, insight, and relationship with the general public, policymakers and legislators, and our own professions. From initial meetings with the psychotherapy associates leadership to having the honor of Bill Glover attending the last PsiAN conference, I've developed many close ties with APsaA. I now serve on the PA Committee, the Covid Advisory Team, the Expanded Membership Task Force, and the Committee on Public Information (CPI).
I was honored that CPI invited me to present at its February 2021 panel on “Re-branding Psychoanalysis,” where I shared the results of PsiAN's original market research with the general public, and recommendations for how we can elevate and enhance our therapies in the mind of the public. This market research involved a substantial qualitative and quantitative research effort, leveraging the tools and strategies I helped many companies in corporate America use in my previous career. They turn to these tools when they want to understand public sentiment or increase appeal of new products or services; however, I use them now in the name of increasing awareness and understanding of the therapies we have to offer and dismantling the stereotypes that discredit us.
From my personal journey, I know the power of reconciling differences and healing splits. I see much of this work ahead for APsaA, our profession, and our society as a whole. I am proud to work with APsaA to protect and advance psychoanalysis for the next generation.