I am very pleased that our new election List is up and running. The list will give more of our members the opportunity to hear from our candidates for office and to interact with them. As a candidate for President-Elect I plan to use this platform to introduce myself to many of you and to start an ongoing conversation about the issues which concern all of us. I hope that my participation in dialog on this list will help you decide for whom to vote.
First I would like to tell you about myself, my background, and some of my thoughts about what I’d like to accomplish if elected. I’ll be brief for now but I will discuss many issues in much more detail as the campaign progresses. I would direct all our members to my website where I have provided more information about myself, my TAP statement (“Thoughts on the Presidency”), and my openline statements concerning some of the most pressing issues in the Association. To do so please go to: http://warrenprocci.blogspot.com or www.wrprocci.org
I am a psychoanalyst in private practice in Pasadena, CA. I believe I have had exceptional preparation for the office of President-Elect. I have been elected nationally three times, as Councilor-at-Large once and as Treasurer twice. I have served extensively on both our Board of Directors and on our Executive Committee. I have also been a Fellow of BOPS. During my tenure as Treasurer we have balanced our budgets, funded our programs, and established a number of new programs, all without raising dues. I have brought transparency to our budgetary processes and I have always been willing to respond publicly or privately to any member who has questions about our finances.
My background includes eight years of service as a Trustee and Executive Committee member of my undergraduate alma mater, Wagner College. I have chaired the college’s Committee on Academic Affairs which has given me valuable first hand experience dealing with issues of Trustee oversight of academic functions and processes. I have also been an active participant in a major capital campaign and in the development and implementation of a strategic plan. Many of these experiences have direct applicability to my work with our Association. I wouldn’t need to learn “on the job”.
If elected I would bring a “focus for our future” approach to the office. For now, let me limit my discussion of my plans for APsaA to just two items. I will be telling you much more about my other ideas during the upcoming months in future posts. First, as President I would make it a prime objective to seek a solution to what I consider the major source of our ongoing organizational dissension, the certification/TA link. We do need to come to some resolution so that we can focus much more of our attention on the numerous other issues which confront us: members’ practices, candidate recruitment, outreach to communities, practice protection, etc. Second, I would develop processes to insure that organizational planning and decision making are pluralistic and involve all of our members and not just a limited few.
I hope you will support progressive changes in our Association. We face many challenges but I believe that APsaA has great resources and the potential to advance our field. I hope you’ll give me an opportunity to play a leadership role.
Warren R. Procci
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
My Track Record for Reform in APsaA
Dear Colleagues,
In an earlier posting I made the point that our Association has finally begun to change as we recognize many of the internal and external realities which affect us. In particular, I emphasized that we need to find a way to end the certification/TA link which, in my view, is the biggest contributor to our current dissension.
Since I am currently a candidate for APsaA President-Elect I want to remind you about my history of support for a number of progressive reforms so that you can decide for yourself whether or not I’m the best candidate to lead us towards change.
My first involvement with APsaA was in the early 90’s on behalf of my local institute. At that time there were very rigid requirements and procedures governing the admission of “non-medical” (a term we used then) candidates. I felt, as did my local institute, that we were not at all well served by placing obstacles in the path of well-qualified “non medical” mental health professionals who wanted to join us. In fact I think we are still paying the price for this by bearing animosities from such colleagues, even these many years later.
I argued back then at the CNMCT (COPAP predecessor) and in front of both BOPS and the Executive Council for the relaxation of these procedures. I also argued for granting considerably more discretion to the local institutes in admission policies. Some significant reforms have occurred in this area and I believe my voice has helped. So I think it’s clear that I’ve stood for greater local institute autonomy for fifteen years.
After I was elected EC Chair of my institute I began service as a BOPS Fellow (’96-’01). A year later I was elected Councilor-at-Large (’97-01) and began to serve on our Board of Directors (the Executive Council) where I continue to serve. I was elected Treasurer twice (’02-’05, ’05- ) so I have been an officer and a member of our Executive Committee for over five years. I’ve always spoken out for the need for progressive changes in our organization at BOPS and our BOD.
I supported a bylaw amendment delinking membership and voting status from certification, a bylaw amendment granting voting rights to our candidates, a proposed bylaw amendment to remove certification from the bylaws, and, most recently, the local option bylaw amendment. I supported initiatives to expand further opening of membership opportunities to qualified non-APsaA trained analysts. I supported a BOPS proposal to create a very limited but alternate route to TA status (the “Associate Training Analyst” Proposal). I was often in a lonely position, as the sole member of the Executive Committee or, at most, one of only two members, supporting such changes.
My point is that I have a long, consistent, and principled history of support for progressive changes regardless of whether or not the majority of the particular governing body or the organization as a whole was behind those innovations. Winds of change have moved our organizational weather vanes towards many of the very same proposals that I have supported for years and I would like the opportunity to help bring about those needed reforms which can help solve our organizational dilemmas. I think you can count on me to take a principled position even if it has been unpopular in the past. I hope that I will be worthy of your support. Working together we can advance our Association and psychoanalysis.
Warren R. Procci
In an earlier posting I made the point that our Association has finally begun to change as we recognize many of the internal and external realities which affect us. In particular, I emphasized that we need to find a way to end the certification/TA link which, in my view, is the biggest contributor to our current dissension.
Since I am currently a candidate for APsaA President-Elect I want to remind you about my history of support for a number of progressive reforms so that you can decide for yourself whether or not I’m the best candidate to lead us towards change.
My first involvement with APsaA was in the early 90’s on behalf of my local institute. At that time there were very rigid requirements and procedures governing the admission of “non-medical” (a term we used then) candidates. I felt, as did my local institute, that we were not at all well served by placing obstacles in the path of well-qualified “non medical” mental health professionals who wanted to join us. In fact I think we are still paying the price for this by bearing animosities from such colleagues, even these many years later.
I argued back then at the CNMCT (COPAP predecessor) and in front of both BOPS and the Executive Council for the relaxation of these procedures. I also argued for granting considerably more discretion to the local institutes in admission policies. Some significant reforms have occurred in this area and I believe my voice has helped. So I think it’s clear that I’ve stood for greater local institute autonomy for fifteen years.
After I was elected EC Chair of my institute I began service as a BOPS Fellow (’96-’01). A year later I was elected Councilor-at-Large (’97-01) and began to serve on our Board of Directors (the Executive Council) where I continue to serve. I was elected Treasurer twice (’02-’05, ’05- ) so I have been an officer and a member of our Executive Committee for over five years. I’ve always spoken out for the need for progressive changes in our organization at BOPS and our BOD.
I supported a bylaw amendment delinking membership and voting status from certification, a bylaw amendment granting voting rights to our candidates, a proposed bylaw amendment to remove certification from the bylaws, and, most recently, the local option bylaw amendment. I supported initiatives to expand further opening of membership opportunities to qualified non-APsaA trained analysts. I supported a BOPS proposal to create a very limited but alternate route to TA status (the “Associate Training Analyst” Proposal). I was often in a lonely position, as the sole member of the Executive Committee or, at most, one of only two members, supporting such changes.
My point is that I have a long, consistent, and principled history of support for progressive changes regardless of whether or not the majority of the particular governing body or the organization as a whole was behind those innovations. Winds of change have moved our organizational weather vanes towards many of the very same proposals that I have supported for years and I would like the opportunity to help bring about those needed reforms which can help solve our organizational dilemmas. I think you can count on me to take a principled position even if it has been unpopular in the past. I hope that I will be worthy of your support. Working together we can advance our Association and psychoanalysis.
Warren R. Procci
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