Thoughts on the Presidency and our future

Two years ago when I ran for the office of President-Elect, I started my statement with words from Abraham Lincoln. I do so again, but with different words this time.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” Lincoln, 1858. “With malice towards none and with charity for all …let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.” Lincoln, 1865. I think most of us would agree that our organization has been for some time a house divided. “Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration for which it had already attained.” Lincoln 1865.

I have a definite vision for the future of our Association, if elected President-Elect my first priority will be to resolve our governance dilemma. My approach would be to form a balanced task force which all of our members could feel represents them. I can not overemphasize the importance of the balanced composition for this group. Lack of appropriate balance has been a major factor in the ineffectiveness of prior efforts. The task force would focus on the most crucial hot button issues. I see two such major problems that must be addressed. First, several BOPS colleagues identified as a “structural flaw” the fact that our Board of Directors (the Executive Council) could overrule decisions made by BOPS regarding standards. The second issue is the lock between training analyst status and our certification procedure. I believe that if this linkage is removed then BOPS would become less concerned about being overruled and our organizational tension would decrease. I will do my best to bring all the interested parties together so that they can find solutions. Then we can move on.

Psychoanalysis is a noble and wonderful profession, one which helps many to overcome the obstacles which impede his or her ability for a fulfilling life. Our Association should be a leader in advancing psychoanalytic learning and contributions to our culture and our world. We possess many talented members and resources and there is no reason our whole can not be greater than the sum of our parts.

A major component of my vision is strengthening the ability of our Association to advance our profession. I stated this during my earlier campaign and I’ll restate it now. We need long term planning. Historically, we have been led by Presidents, many of whom who have had long term vision, but who have had to focus on what could be accomplished during their terms. This is a “dogma of the quiet past inadequate to the stormy present”, to quote Lincoln again (1862). In order to implement changes and be innovative, we need to craft a long term plan that is in place until its objectives are accomplished rather than ended with a President’s term. One specific proposal; Executive Committee should be expanded to include members from our Board of Directors (Executive Council) to assure continuity of policy development and implementation. It may strike some as odd that a candidate for President-Elect would support a diminishment of his power. I am convinced this is in our organization’s best interest.

More about my vision; I am committed to psychoanalytic education. If our Association is separated into a standard setting and a membership component, (I hope this does not occur) I believe that the surviving membership organization must retain interest in and support for psychoanalytic education. We also need to maintain our commitments to advocate for confidentiality of the specifically psychoanalytic situation and for our research, outreach and public information efforts.

We will need more resources to accomplish all of this. I can bring a new focus on development to the office because of my eight year experience as a Trustee at Wagner College, my alma mater, as an active participant in their development effort.

Am I qualified for this office? I believe I am one of the best prepared candidates for this office. I have worked as a psychiatric educator and as a college Trustee. Within APsaA I have served in every major component. I have been a Fellow of BOPS. I have served on major committees and have chaired the Committee on Government Relations and Insurance (CGRI). I have been nationally elected on three occasions in APsaA, first as a Councilor at Large (97-01) and then twice as Treasurer (02-05, 05-). I have made substantial contributions in each one of these positions. I have always emphasized transparency in our financial activities and in our governance.

Finally; colleagues wonder why I seek this position and particularly why I am running a second time. The answer is simple. I enjoy being in a leadership position. I enjoy talking and working with my colleagues and I especially enjoy developing plans to advance our field. It is a great joy to “strive to finish the work we are in”. We may be able to accomplish great things for our profession and I want to be part of that effort. I am asking for your vote.

My Goals for the Presidency of APsaA

If elected I will bring a "plan for the future" focus to the office. Future conditions for psychoanalysis will no doubt be drastically different from the present and very innovative new approaches are necessary for our survival and health. I will draw from the strategic plan we developed for the Association. The importance of this is that we would have a programmatic guideline for the next several years rather than our traditional focus of only one year at a time. Much of my vision involves looking several years ahead and taking a very forward thinking organizational view, rather than just focusing on my own term. My vision will also be significantly shaped by the results of the Congress of Institutes occurring during this meeting.

An overriding principle of my administration will be a commitment to participatory democracy. Each and every one of us must be able to participate in all areas of our organization. A second overriding principle is that we maintain, support, and expand and keep contemporary our long-standing commitment to psychoanalytic education, which was the primary priority in our Strategic Plan.

My specific goals include the following:

1. Assuring our compliance with New York Nonprofit Law and affirming the authority of our Board of Directors (the Executive Council).
2. Insuring that the Association’s agenda, and not just the President's, will be carried out and completed.
3. Strengthening our governance by expanding our Executive Committee by several members. The new members would come from the Board of Directors (currently the Executive Council) to guarantee that the Board has a major role in assuring that we achieve our agenda. The Executive Committee will truly be a Board Committee.
4. Beginning a process of development which will need to be an ongoing organizational priority.
5. Supporting the concept of local option. I have long favored expansion of the opportunities for Training Analyst (TA) appointment both from the standpoint of our Institutes and of our members.
6. Support for science and research in psychoanalysis.
7. Continued support for privacy and confidentiality.
8. Expanding our current privacy/government relations focus to include access to care.
9. Outreach, specifically to our collegial professional organizations in psychiatry, psychology, social work, and marriage and family therapy.

Background and Qualifications

I am running for President-Elect of the American Psychoanalytic Association.

I consider myself very well prepared for the position of President Elect since I have served our Association in all of our major leadership areas, both locally and nationally. At the local level, I have been President Elect and President of my local Institute (92-96) and then Dean and Chair of the Education Committee (1996-01). At the National level I have served as a Fellow on the Board on Professional Standards (BOPS) (1996-01). I have been a member of both our committees on Confidentiality and Government Relations and Insurance (CGRI) since 1994. I have served a term as Chair of CGRI (1997-00). I have been a member of our Board of Directors (Executive Council) continuously since 1997.

I have been elected to national office three times, first as a Councilor-at-Large (1997-01), and then to two terms as Treasurer (01-04, 04- ). As Treasurer we have had balanced budgets during all five years of my term, and we have accomplished this without raising dues. I have brought transparency to the budgeting and financial processes of our Association with my willingness to answer all financial questions on our listserves and my willingness to meet with any interested members at our meetings. As you can see, I possess a considerable breadth of experience and accomplishment in our Association.

My organizational skills have been enhanced by eight years of leadership as a member of the Board of Trustees of Wagner College (1999- ) where I also serve as Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee and as a member of the College’s Executive Committee (2001- ).