2nd Letter to Our Members

Dear Fellow APsaA Member,

“We will transmit the City not only not less, but better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.”

This is the oath that Athenian citizens took on behalf of their city-state. It is guiding me in my candidacy for President-Elect of APsaA.

The preeminent issue in our upcoming election is the future of our Association. At the moment we are strong and stable, but there are some warning clouds that we must not neglect. The decline in our overall numbers has been very slow so far, but the decline among our active dues-paying members is more rapid, and our senior constituency is growing even larger. We are aging and graying, and it is time to address this.

On my web page (www.wrprocci.org or http://warrenprocci.blogspot.com) I have outlined a set of goals I will pursue as President, if you elect me. I will review them briefly here. All are intended to prepare our Association for a future that is better than the present.

1. Relaxation of the exclusionary linkage of certification and TA/SA eligibility. This requirement is a direct contributor to our membership problems. In the evolving psychoanalytic world of today, prospective candidates want to choose their TA’s freely. And in today’s world they can. The more narrowly we restrict our own offerings, therefore, the more likely they are to elect to train not with us, but at any one of the many competitive non-APsaA institiutes. Furthermore, it appears that many of our recent graduates have decided against seeking certification. Only about 15-20% of these colleagues are applying to be certified, and this will narrow TA possibilities for new candidates even further. Add to these practical considerations the contribution that the delinkage issue makes to our current plaguing dissension, and it is easy to see how vital it is for us to resolve this question. In fact, I would make it the number one priority of my presidency.

Efforts to address it in the past have failed, because task forces and pilot groups have been weighted far too heavily in favor of the current balance of power. I would call immediately for a balanced task force to address the issue, and to explore once more a local option proposal that would allow individual institutes to set their own requirements for their own TA’s and SA’s.

2. Pluralistic and democratic government. Hierarchal decision-making has ruled the day in our Association for a long time. Why is this a problem? Because hierarchies are loath to relinquish their power, even when they no longer serve the best interests of the organizations that house them. Like the delinkage struggles, past efforts to deal with membership, education, and appointment issues have often been unbalanced in favor of the very hierarchies they were supposed to democratize. As President I would ensure that our task forces and exploratory committees fairly reflect all components of our membership. I would also move to shift decision-making away from centralized structures and towards our local organizations, where individual voices are more easily heard.

3. A stronger Executive Council. Lately we have become aware that our by-laws do not support a bi-cameral organization. They designate our Executive Council as our Board of Directors. If we are to plan effectively for the future, we will need a strong Board of Directors to set and realize organizational priorities. Too often in the past our Presidents have set our priorities. Presidents may certainly offer individual initiatives; however laudable these may be, however, they are generally abandoned when that President leaves office. The Board of Directors is the structure to which enduring initiatives must be entrusted, as it is only the Board that can safeguard them over the years of changing administrations. I strongly support a much greater role for our board in setting priorities and carrying them out. The way to do this is to add several directors to the Executive Committee, give the Committee on Council a greater role in setting our organizational agenda, and establish an expanded presence and role for Board Committee Chairs at our quarterly governance meetings. These steps haven’t been taken before because the need to empower the Executive Council has not been sufficiently recognized. It is obvious now, however, that the Executive Council must be our policy planning and setting body.

4. Financial Development. Five years as treasurer have made clear to me that we do not possess the resources to do the things we have to do to advance our field. Our current income sources enable us to carry out our basic functions, and we carry them out well. But there is little left over for creative, bold, or innovative efforts. One solution is certainly to bring in more income by encouraging the growth of our membership – yet another reason to resolve the delinkage issue. But I would also encourage the establishment of an endowment fund sufficient to fund the efforts we must make to deal more effectively with the outside world. During my eight years on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee at Wagner College, my alma mater, I was actively involved in just such a major fundraising process. Wagner’s most recent capital campaign has expanded their endowment by $50M.

5. Advocacy. I have a long history in support of APsaA’s advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C. As Treasurer, I worked hard to assure that our Committee on Government Relations and Insurance (CGRI) would have the funding it needed to do its work. Before that, I myself served as Chairman of CGRI. Under my leadership, CGRI made its voice heard on the essential issue of protection of patient privacy. I was part of the team that discovered our current government representative in Washington, Jim Pyles, who has greatly helped us advance the cause of patient confidentiality. During my tenure as CGRI chair, we organized a meeting in Washington where CGRI members had the opportunity to meet with legislators, regulators and policymakers. We also organized (in conjunction with a spring meeting in Washington, D.C.) a “Meet your Legislator” program. We were able to introduce individual members to their legislators, and teach them effective ways to deliver talking points to lawmakers. As President, I would re-establish the tradition of periodic CGRI meetings in Washington.

There are two other areas that interest me greatly and which I would support as President: psychoanalytic research, especially outcome research as in the new research proposal advanced by our current President, and public information and communication efforts. But the five priorities listed above are the ones we must address first if we are to ensure for our Association a future in which these will be relevant – and in which we will have the morale, the structure, and the infrastructure to face that future in a rational and effective manner.

I am absolutely committed to maintaining and enhancing our Association so that we can pass it on to the next generation of psychoanalysts in better condition than we received it.

Best regards,

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