ApsaA Press Coverage

Colleagues,

Thanks to both Leon Hoffman and Kerry Sulkowicz for telling us about their experiences with journalists and with the press. As with so many of the tasks we face in dealing with the contemporary world we are in an unfamiliar environment which requires special skill, persistence, a long view, and a willingness, even an eagerness, to push beyond our usual roles.

It is most likely unrealistic to expect unequivocally positive coverage for any story about us in today’s media but I don’t take the view that we should consider just any coverage as acceptable or good. Without a doubt negative coverage can cause us very serious harm. Our Association showed prescience many years ago when we put both funds and people into our public information efforts. The addition of a staff member dedicated to handling this effort has paid off handsomely and we can thank Dottie Jeffries for many a piece of good media attention over the years. We were similarly wise when we formed a Public Information Committee years ago and staffed it both with media savvy members (such as Leon and Kerry) as well as a number of non member experts.

While not typical psychoanalytic activities these are exactly the kinds of very non traditional efforts we need to support, both financially and with our personal capital, if we are to “stay on the radar” of public awareness. We also need, as both Leon and Kerry suggest, to continue to work at this to become ever more effective. While it is unlikely that this work would be seen today by many members as controversial we should recall that at one time it was. There may be an interesting lesson here. It is unlikely that our Association can advance and thrive if we choose only to “play it safe”.

Warren R. Procci, Candidate for President-Elect of APsaA