North American Candidates for Representative
Click on the individual candidate's name to read their official position statement or scroll down to read all the candidates' official position statements. To enter a candidate's blog click on the link next to their name.
Please note position statements from North American candidates are available in English and French only.
Candidates for North American Representative (in alphabetical order)
Lee Ascherman
In the past, like many of my colleagues in North America, I did not have a full appreciation of what the IPA has to offer its members. Through my increasing involvement with the IPA I have come to see the breadth of activities under its auspices, the common challenges faced by our colleagues around the world, how we can learn from each other despite our international differences, and perhaps, most importantly, the incredible value and reward of professional relationships and friendships between colleagues around the world.
As a large international professional organization we are also vulnerable to challenges with communication, the coordination of our efforts, and the efficiency of our activities and finances. As a present Board Representative I have worked to focus attention to these challenges and potential solutions. As Chair of the Board Executive Committee Relations Task Force (BECRTF) our committee has worked to improve relationships between the Executive Committee and the Board. We also proposed and participated in a review of all IPA committee mandates, functioning, and finances. In addition, the Task Force has put forth a proposal for a more coherent and efficient organization of these committees and their reporting lines to enhance our organization’s functioning and communication, especially between committees with overlapping agendas. We have also proposed staggered terms for committee members for better continuity of efforts between IPA administrations.
The challenges we face as a profession are common, transcending international boundaries. These include the graying of the profession and the critical need to attract young professionals to psychoanalysis by recognizing the excitement, uniqueness, and relevance of the work we do. We also must maintain a vibrant educational model that has credibility and effectiveness for the development of an analytic identity throughout training and beyond. Our members also face serious external challenges to practice related to economic viability and the loss of an unapologetic psychoanalytic presence in academic settings. I strongly believe we can effectively address these challenges and learn from each other through approaches that have proven successful. As a member of the Sponsoring Committee for the Vermont Psychoanalytic Study Group I have also witnessed the effectiveness of a newly forming training center and the excitement that it can generate within the nearby professional community. It has been inspiring and encouraging to see a new, vibrant psychoanalytic presence come alive and offer much to its region.
We are too small a profession to battle among ourselves. Our challenge is to collaborate and cooperate in ways that offer solutions to the professional challenges of maintaining professional rigor and credibility while attempting adaptive solutions to challenging and changing times. As a North American Representative to the Board I will continue to work for solutions to the challenges we face. Regardless of outcome I will always value the working relationships and friendships I have made with colleagues from around the world, and what I have learned from them.
List of Positions
IPA: North American Representative, Board of Representatives 2011-2013, Chair, Board Executive Committee Relations Task Force (BECRTF) 2012-2013, Sponsoring Committee, Vermont Psychoanalytic Study Group 2009-present, Member, Education and Oversight Committee, 2012-present. APsaA: Councilor, (New Orleans-Birmingham) 2003-present, Councilor at Large 2009-present, Secretary, Board on Professional Standards, 2010-2013, Chair elect, Board on Professional Standards, Associate Editor, Child Analysis, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (JAPA) 2011-present.
I am most concerned about the vigor and survival of Clinical Practice in Psychoanalysis. Unless we are vigilant and creative – Psychoanalysis will become a boutique profession and our Component Institutes and the International Psychoanalytic Association will lose their significance. Clinical Practice has diminished significantly locally, nationally and internationally. Candidates in training – fewer in number every year - struggle to find suitable analytic cases and many senior members have “open” treatment hours. Whereas internal squabbles locally and nationally as well as concerns about training standards must remain on our agenda, our efforts to inform our communities of the value and opportunities offered by psychoanalytic training and treatment, must be paramount in our vision and efforts. The IPA cannot do outreach directly – however, it can creatively and with strength encourage, educate, highlight, support and reward local groups that invest in effective outreach programs. We must then share with each other the kinds of programs that are successful.
As President of the American Psychoanalytic Association, I traveled to the 30+ Institutes around the United States underscoring the importance of engaging the community and offering people the opportunity to learn about Psychoanalysis and to create programs that would help increase our visibility. Though not the customary (or most comfortable) venues for clinicians, it is imperative that we seek venues to give public lectures, be discussants, to engage with other disciplines, to teach at colleges, to be available as consultants on community issues, and a host of other opportunities to underscore what psychoanalysis can offer. In past generations we reveled in isolation, but we have learned that “elitism does not sell”.
In the recent years the IPA Board has focused on the serious Aging Problem in our organizations (National and International) and the financial implications of Senior Members retiring. The only real effective way to address this issue is to interest and involve younger people to seek analytic training and becoming members of the IPA. This effort must be tied to promoting the value and accessibility of psychoanalysis to the public. We cannot with integrity enlist more candidates, if clinical practice continues to diminish.
The road before us is difficult, but unless we focus our attention on this task of enhancing Clinical Practice – the future will indeed by gloomy.
As Past Treasurer and Past President of the American Psychoanalytic Association and as a current member of the IPA Board and a member of the Executive Committee I believe we can face this challenge with vigor and integrity.
This would be my priority if reelected to the IPA Board.
List of Positions
In the IPA I have served in the House of Representatives, and I am currently on the IPA Board and I am a member of the Executive Committee. In the American Psychoanalytic Association I have been Treasurer and then President of the Association as well as a member on the Board of Professional Standards and Councilor on the Executive Council. In my local Institute, I have served as President, Executive Director and Chair of the Education Committee. I am a Training and Supervising Analyst. At the University of Pennsylvania I am a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Chair of the Psychoanalytic Committee.
My goal as a Board member will be to help the IPA provide greater value to its members. It is an honor to belong to the Association begun by Freud but, unfortunately, the honor of belonging is the main benefit for many members. While the IPA plays a vital role in psychoanalytic training, research and outreach, the association is remote from most member’s actual lives and practices. Relatively few members are able to attend the bi-annual Congress. To make itself more accessible and relevant the IPA’s recently adopted strategic plan calls for ‘assisting individual members develop their psychoanalytic identities, practices and professional activities.’
The IPA is a wonderful but unwieldy organization that can have difficulty implementing its objectives. The Board is large, geographically dispersed, and turns over rapidly. Meeting only twice a year it takes time for representatives to figure out what’s going on and become effective. Having served my ‘apprenticeship’ on the Board from 2009-2011 I can hit the ground running. I have the knowledge, skills and energy to help the IPA fulfill its strategic aims, especially in delivering benefit to members.
Particularly relevant are my efforts on behalf of the Clinical Working Parties and Work Groups sponsored by the IPA. These endeavors are qualitative clinical research projects conducted in workshops that are popular in all regions of the IPA and directly assist members’ analytic identities and practices. Currently I am Chair of the Working Party Pre-Congress Sub-Committee for Prague. 26 workshops from 8 different Working Parties will be offered before the Congress and we anticipate that over 300 IPA members and candidates will attend. The IPA also supports Working Party activities regionally and locally. In North America I am out-going Treasurer of the Working Party Steering Committee and have been personally involved in Comparative Clinical Methods, Initiating Psychoanalysis and Clinical Observation.
I have participated in psychoanalytic organizational life throughout my career. Currently I am a Training and Supervising Analyst and Chair of the Psychoanalytic Education Division at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. As Chair I am working to both 1) ensure that graduation means competence, and 2) implement our developmental pathway to Training Analyst appointment. Previously I chaired our strategic plan and was President when we reorganized into a Psychoanalytic Center. From 2005-2012 I served on the Executive Council of APsaA and was on various committees including the Task Force on Educational Standards Revision and the Membership Requirements & Review Committee. I am involved in efforts to resolve the controversy in APsaA over criteria for TA appointment. I have worked to build consensus in all the positions I have held and will continue to do so if elected to the Board.
I believe the often cited ‘crisis’ in psychoanalysis is internal, within the analyst, as well as external, in the culture. The IPA is working hard to address both aspects of the crisis. I would like your vote for Board of Representatives so that I can contribute to this effort.
List of Positions
IPA: Board of Representatives, Committee on Administration Policy & Review 2009-2011; IPA/IPSO Relations Committee 2009-date; Candidate Loan Panel 2009-date; Chair, Working Party Pre-Congress Sub-Committee, Prague, 2012. APsaA: Executive Councilor 2005-2012; Election Guidelines Task Force 2010-2011; Task Force on Educational Standards Revision (Major Revisions) 2009-2010; Membership Requirements & Review Committee 2008-2012; Audit Committee 2006-2009; Editorial Associate JAPA 2004-2006. San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis: Chair, Psychoanalytic Education Committee 2012-date; President 2005-2008; Chair, Strategic Planning Committee 2004-2006.
Lee Jaffe
I’m running for North American Representative to the IPA Board. Here are my objectives should I be elected. First, I believe we need to demonstrate to the public, future candidates, government policy setters and health care providers the value of the psychoanalytic approaches for understanding child, adolescent and adult development, psychopathology and treatment. While we appreciate that psychoanalysis is much more than a palliative psychotherapy, it’s up to us to make this generally accepted.
We also must: maintain educational standards that protect the integrity of psychoanalysis; promote research that validates our profession; and, sponsor scientific meetings that cultivate our skills and sense of community. Since we can’t accomplish these goals as individuals, we rely on the IPA, on regional organizations like APsaA, and on our local Societies, Institutes and Centers.
Nowadays, the responsibilities that fall to our psychoanalytic organizations are more critical than ever. We have seen decreasing numbers of patients in analysis, fewer candidates in training, and diminishing reimbursements for psychoanalytic treatments. We must continue to take strategic steps to actively advance our profession.
I believe the IPA has a crucial role in promoting the vitality of psychoanalysis both locally and globally. If elected to the IPA Board, here are some specific examples of positions I will advocate and support:
- Increase sponsorship of small, local scientific programs that deliver international psychoanalytic perspectives directly to IPA members and other mental health providers.
- Facilitate the IPA as a resource to provide consultation, collegial collaboration and assistance with regional issues, like APsaA’s current challenges over certification and TA appointment.
- Expand psychoanalytic education and practice development to demonstrate psychoanalytically informed interventional techniques that assist couples, families, parents, pre-schools, schools, business organizations, sports organizations, etc. In other words, promote psychoanalysis not just as a clinical technique, but also as an organizing approach to all efforts to advance mental health.
- Continue to support research that demonstrates the value of psychoanalysis, while at the same time expanding research that demonstrates the value of other psychoanalytically informed interventions.
- Continue to develop the relationship between the IPA and IPSO, including the IPA candidate loan program, recognizing that this collaboration between IPA candidates and graduate IPA members strengthens psychoanalysis as a whole. Candidates are the future of the IPA.
- Expand the development of psychoanalysis in Asia to promote internationalization. Korea, Japan, and China are enthusiastically broadening the worldwide base of psychoanalysis.
List of Positions
IPA: Candidate Loan Committee 2009-date; Centennial Committee 2008-2010; IPA Board 2005-2007; Chair, IPA-IPSO Liaison Committee 2005-2007. IPSO: President 2001-2003. Editorial Board: International Journal of Psychoanalysis 1998-1999. APsaA: COPE Steering Committee & Council Implementation Task Force 2012-date; Councilor-at-large 2010-date; Strategic Planning Committee 2011; JAPA Editorial Board 2002-2004; Tap Editorial Board 2002-2004; Chair, Membership Committee 1999-2001; Project 2000, 1998-2004; President, Affiliate Council 1996-1998. San Diego Society: President & Board Director 2009-date; TA 2006-date; Chair, Strategic Planning 2005-2010; Education Committee 2000-2009.
Arlene Kramer Richards
I am running for International Psychoanalytical Association representative for North America because I want to work to make psychoanalysis analysis more accessible, more available and more understandable to the wider world. I believe that the way to do this is to reach out to the public and to each other as well.
This agenda comes from my recent experience establishing a program of Dynamic Psychotherapy in Wuhan, China. IPA analysts teach 250 psychiatrists, social workers and psychologists from all over China.
It was reported to the third IPA China Congress in Shanghai and to the IPA Congress in Mexico City. The program can become a model for introducing psychoanalytic principles and practices to other countries that have to cope with the trauma and loss which follow from social upheaval and industrialization. Now in its second year both teachers and students give us high marks.
I have had a long and deep involvement in the IPA since the settlement of the lawsuit that allowed non-medical psychoanalysts in the United States to become members of the IPA. The settlement allowed members of The Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research and The New York Freudian Society (now the Contemporary Freudian Society) to join the IPA. With that precedent established other non-medical groups were able to join in subsequent years
We were welcomed enthusiastically by colleagues from Canada, Europe and South America medical and non medical. Our acceptance was facilitated by their willingness to help us and by our willingness to negotiate our standards to conform to IPA requirements in the future at the same colleagues who were trained in the past with standards that were “functionally equivalent” to IPA standards where accepted at the time of the settlement.
Since becoming a member of the IPA, I have served on the Committee to Evaluate Research Proposals, I have been Co-Chair of the Pre-Congress of Training Analysts, have given papers, been a discussant and have chaired panels. I have been North American Co-chair of the Committee on Women in Psychoanalysis for the past decade. During that time I organized a conference on international adoption that attracted many people who had the opportunity to hear psychoanalytic ideas and to meet psychoanalysts from Europe and the United States as well as adoptees telling their own stories. I have enjoyed working with colleagues on all of these projects.
My IPA project team experience led to becoming Chair of the Training Analyst Committee of The Contemporary Freudian Society. We succeeded in replacing the Training Analyst process from a highly arbitrary, subjective and onerous procedure to one that is objective and transparent and includes courses in ethics and supervision. The process of this initiative included town meetings, immediate feedback to the participants and on-going revision to meet the needs of the members and the institute It has raised the morale and the collegiality of our members.
My aim is to bring this same spirit of collegiality, inclusion and mutual respect to the IPA .
List of Positions
Co-Chair for North America of Committee on Women and Psychoanalysis of IPA, Member Committee on Research of IPA, Co-Chair Training Analyst Pre-Congress of IPA in San Francisco, Chair Training Analyst Selection Committee of New York Freudian Society, Chair Committee for Revision of Training Analyst Standards of New York Freudian Society, President Section One Division of Psychoanalysis, American Psychological Association, Member Program Committee Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research
I am deeply committed to psychoanalysis as a treatment and profession, passionately interested in facilitating development of a broad range of psychoanalytic theories and ideas and determined to encourage opportunities for open and substantive dialogue between colleagues throughout the world.
During my first term on the Board, I have worked to create strong, collaborative relationships between Board members and an atmosphere of cooperation, mutual understanding and respect. In conjunction with relevant IPA Committees, we have begun to address many of the key issues facing the IPA – and psychoanalysis - worldwide:
- Our aging membership – over 60% of our members are over 60 years old.
- Recruiting, training and developing the next generation of analysts.
- Case finding and the diminished presence of psychoanalysis in universities, clinics, training programs and the general culture.
In addition, I have:
- Served on the newly created Appoinments Committee, helping to create a more transparent and participatory process of proposing and screening potential appointees to IPA committees.
- Served on the Board’s Strategic Planning Committee, which, through extensive consultation with Societies throughout the 3 Regions, has revised the strategic aims of the IPA to meet our current challenges.
- Helped establish a Board Liason Group to the IPA Research Board, to facilitate communication and understanding and ensure that projects sponsored by the Research Board will be aligned with our new strategic aims.
My continuing vision for the IPA is progressive and conservative, pragmatic and nostalgic. As the international voice of psychoanalysis, the IPA preserves our continuity with Freud and our founders and represents a tradition of excellence in clinical practice, scientific thought, research, professional ethics and training. While this tradition must be honored and preserved, we cannot remain static as a profession or a clinical practice. Our field is vital and continues to have a powerful and important contribution to make to the general welfare of our patients and the intellectual culture of our times. We must insure that psychoanalysis continues to grow, balancing the need for continuity and preservation of past achievements with innovation and change. We must adapt to present realities and expand the boundaries of all that remains to be discovered.
To these ends, I am committed to
- expand opportunities for inter-and intra-regional dialogues and meetings and foster scientific thought and exchange, using the scientific strength and initiatives of the IPA to help overcome cultural and geographical separations among our members and draw North American members closer to international colleagues.
- support responsible initiatives that encourage liberalization, transparency, inclusiveness and psychoanalytic pluralism. Where differences exist, we must engage members in comparative psychoanalytic studies, working groups and discussions, rather than meaningless polemical arguments.
- promote the use of our resources to support the needs of existing member Societies in case-finding, attraction of candidates, government relations, strengthening professional standards, protecting patient confidentiality and other areas of local concern.
List of Positions
IPA: Board of Directors, Appointments Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, 2011-present. APsaA: Chair, Committee on Confidentiality 1997-2007; Chair, Committee on Local Health Care Initiatives,1997-2002; Committee on Government Relations 1997-present; Program Committee 1986-1989, 1998-2001; COPE Study Group on Boundaries and Boundary Violations,1996 – 2008. Local Societies (BPSI; PINE; MIP): Chair, Program Committee; Board of Directors; Education Committee; Curriculum Committee; Organizing Committee, Advanced Training Program in Psychotherapy. Other: Co-Chair, 2009 International Bion Conference, Boston, MA.
Much has been written in the IPA Newsletter about the “Crisis in Psychoanalysis.” That crisis is real and growing. All of North America, Europe, and Latin America are now facing what we experienced earlier in the United States — declining numbers of psychoanalytic patients and candidates, and increasing intrusion by government regulators and third party payers. I believe the IPA can and must play a critical role in addressing this worldwide psychoanalytic crisis.
Certainly, the IPA should continue its excellent work in setting educational standards, in promoting research, and organizing scientific congresses. I bring knowledge and experience to this area, having been on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for 30 years, and having served as chair of the Education Committee at my Institute.
Our Changing Role
Like the IPA, the dual functions of the American Psychoanalytic Association traditionally had been to set educational standards and organize scientific meetings. However, of necessity, because our crisis started earlier, our Association has transformed itself into a body remarkably effective in its outreach to our public and professional communities, and in influencing the political process in Washington, DC.
For four years, as President-elect and then as President of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and now again as President, I am helping lead this effort. My special area of expertise has been in helping our Association to become an increasing force in shaping government policy to protect our patients and our profession. As co-chair of NAPsaC, I am continuing this mission with colleagues in CIPS and the Canadian Societies to forge a strong North American alliance and a stronger IPA.
My extensive IPA experience has included two terms on the Board, and many committee assignments, including chair of the Education Work Group, which, when the IPA was dangerously split, came up with the innovative “Three Models” solution, that has quickly become the new paradigm for IPA training.
A Meaningful Agenda for Action
I favor an ambitious and progressive organizational agenda for the IPA. This agenda should include ongoing study of our educational practices, expansion of existing scientific and research programs, plus major new initiatives to better promote and protect psychoanalysis in the world at large. In brief, we should:
- Promote educational policies that balance the values of organizational cohesion, creativity for our Societies, and educational rigor as exemplified in the “Three Models” plan;
- Work to further representative democracy in IPA governance;
- Expand collaborative and interregional research projects, an interregional journal, and programs of clinical study;
- Expand the IPA's public information and public relations capability by engaging psychoanalytic thinkers and professional public relations experts to develop public information campaigns and materials for use on websites, media relations, and lobbying efforts;
- Develop vigorous strategies, tailored to each region and country, to protect and promote our profession through coordinated programs of public information, lobbying, and advocacy; and
- Develop closer relationships with neighboring disciplines and professions, including joint research and educational activities and jointly sponsored journals that bring psychoanalysis to the awareness of other groups.
If you wish to know more please go to my website : www.robertpylesmd.com
List of Positions
IPA: House of Delegates, 1994-1998; Consultant, Ad Hoc Committee on Structure, Mission (SAM), 1999-2002; “Three Wise Men” (Group on Governance), 2003; Vice-President, North America, 2001-03; Regional Representative, 2003-2006, 2009-Present, Executive Committee, 2003-2006; Chair, Education Work Group, 2003-2005. APsaA: Councilor-At-Large, 1994-96, 2003-2007; President-elect, 1996-98; President, 1998-2000; Chair, Committee on Governmental Relations, 2000-2010; President-elect, 2010-12; President, 2012-. Psychoanalytic Institute of New England, East: Training, Supervising Analyst, 1987-; Psychoanalytic Society of New England, East: Founding member, first President, 1990-93;
Mass. Psychiatric Society: President-2007.
Two years ago, you elected me to the post of North American regional representative to the IPA Board. I now ask for your renewed support and re-election, and promise to continue my energetic, progressive service if elected.
During the past 2 years my understanding of and commitment to the IPA has grown alongside my wishes for the ways in which the IPA can impact the lives of its members. These wishes fall into two broad categories: training and governance. If elected my priorities would be as follows:
Expanding opportunities for analytic training:
In order to develop a growing cohort of new analysts, we need to leverage traditional programs with innovative training models.
This is especially important in the face of dwindling candidate applications among early career clinicians. To this end I serve on the IPA/IPSO Relations Committee whose prime task it is to promote analytic training. My efforts have been two-fold; piloting models, including the use of distance learning and emerging technologies, that make training more accessible, and promoting increased participation of candidates on IPA committees. As founding president of PINC and coordinator of PINC’s Regional Training Center, I bring experience and perspective to this task.
Governance: membership, involvement, and resources:
Being a member of the IPA is an honor, but an organization has to be more than honorific to impact the professional life of its members. At a time when a reorganization of the IPA is in progress, I supported initiatives that insure a more palpable presence for members. Specifically:
- The establishment of an Appointments Committee that democratizes the IPA by providing a venue for societies to propose members as vacancies arise.
- The implementation of the “links” system by which each society has a board member link. I am the link to the North American independent societies, and have worked to keep societies aware of and alert to matters that will impact all of us.
- The involvement of all component societies in the development of a strategic plan that directs the use of IPA resources. I am pleased to have served on this task force. The outcome of this project mandates the global promotion of psychoanalysis, full, transparent participation for members, and the maintenance of professional standards.
I ask for your vote and pledge my passion and vitality to the position.
List of Positions
IPA: North American Representative 2011-2013. Member, Strategic Planning Task Force 2011-2012. Member, IPA/IPSO Committee 2012 – present. Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California: Founding President 1990 – 94 Board of Directors 1990 – present. Dean of Candidates 2004 – 2011. Co-Chair IPA Affiliation Committee 2010 – present. Co-Coordinator, Regional Training Program 2003- present. Building Acquisition Committee 2007 – 2012 Chair, Nominations Committee 1995 – 2005. Chair, Curriculum Committee 1995 – 2000. Member, IPA Affiliation Committee 2000 – 2008. Member, Finance Committee 1990 - 2005
My term as North American Representative to the IPA has barely begun, but it is already time to run for re-election. I now clearly recognize areas to best contribute to the organization and, hopefully, to the development of psychoanalysis. My goals mirror those of 2012, enhanced by experience on the board.
- Directing IPA resources towards improving the scientific and therapeutic standing of psychoanalysis
* There are key areas where financial resources can be re-directed. Travel/hotel expenses for certain committees seem wasteful, given the ease of electronic/Skype communication. It seems unnecessary to have two annual board meetings plus other governance-related meetings in different locations in the interim. Instead, more committee meetings could be held around the time of board meetings and the executive committee could decrease its meetings in the interim. Additionally, the committee structure needs to be streamlined; requirements for reporting, adhering to mandates, and staying within budget need to be reinforced. Money thus saved can be targeted for the promotion of psychoanalysis.
2. Promoting the development of psychoanalysis throughout the world
*This requires manpower as well as financial resources; currently the amount of both is insufficient.
3. Opening active channels of communication and cooperation with other disciplines
*In the 1960’s-1970’s, psychoanalysis had a powerful story to tell; for various reasons, though the life-changing efficacy remains well-established, the story no longer has the same impact. We must review and update the fundamental tenets of psychoanalytic theory in order to communicate in a language that can be appreciated, respected and understood by mental health professionals and neuro-science. The IPA needs to encourage such studies and to offer financial support to achieve this goal.
4. Strengthening the IPA’s governance
*The committee structure of the IPA needs examination, a process which Hanley has initiated. Serious re-organization must follow the completion of this review, including re-classification of committees, elimination of some, and a review of progress made as well as of adherence to mandates. Terms of appointments should be re-considered, and they should be staggered for continuity. Criteria for selection of chairmen needs to be made specific, and adherence to a budget should be mandatory.
* The relationship of the Board to the President is in need of re-thinking, especially as the voice of the board has become increasingly more valued in the management of the organization. Two models can be considered as alternatives to the current organizational structure: the parliamentary or congressional model, and the corporate model. Either would be an improvement on the current structure.
*The (current) relationship between APsA, the APsA Societies and the IPA is outdated and does not contribute to the members of APsA having a sense of participation and contribution to the IPA. The existing agreement between the IPA and APsA needs modification so there can be direct communication between the IPA and societies through the North American representatives.
If re-elected, I will apply what I have learned as representative to tackling these issues, with the aim of making our organization more efficient and effective.
List of Positions
IPA: North American Board Representative; COMSED; North-American C0-Chair Ethics Comm.; Chair, Task Force on Relations with APsA; Chair Regional Nominating Comm.; Chair, Sponsoring Comm. SPRF; Allied Centers. APsaA: Comittees: Institutes; Program; External Credentialing ; By-Laws Procedures and Organization, Structure and Functions; Chair, Task Force on Relations with the IPA. NAPSAC: Chair NAPSAC/EPF Clinical Meetings. NYPSI: President NYP Society; President NYP Foundation; Chairman Faculty; Chairman Educational Comm.; Chair, Curriculum Revision. Past Co-director, Philoctetes Center. Director, The Helix Center.
Jack Novick
I am a graduate in adult (1973) and child analysis (1974) from the British Psychoanalytic Institute and earlier trained at the Hampstead Clinic (graduated 1969). I served on the faculty of the Hampstead Clinic and the British Psychoanalytic. After returning to the US in 1977 I served as Chief psychologist and Associate Professor in the child psychiatric department of the University of Michigan and supervisor and faculty member of the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute. I was certified in adult and child psychoanalysis by the American Psychoanalytic Association, served two terms on the COCAA committee of the BOPS , was chair of the C/A committee of the Michigan Psa. Institute and I am currently geographical supervisor on the faculty of 4 American Psychoanalytic Institutes. I am an IPA training and supervising analyst serving on the faculty of the Contemporary Freudian Society (NY). As chair of the Michigan C/A committee I was instrumental in designing and implementing the first fully integrated Child and Adult training program. Together with Kerry Kelly Novick and other psychoanalysts I started the award winning Allen Creek Preschool in Ann Arbor, MI and served as research director, family consultant and development director for 16 years and Board Vice president for 4 years. With other psychoanalysts I started the International “Alliance for Psychoanalytic Schools.”
With Kerry Novick I have written 4 books and many articles on sadomasochism, termination, psychoanalytic technique and most recently on concurrent parent work in child and adolescent analysis and on the translation of psychoanalytic knowledge to parents, teachers and all those who work with children.
The emphasis in all my work and the many talks we give in the US and Europe is:
a) Psychoanalysis benefits from application to “life span analysis,” work from infancy to old age. All analysts in training and afterwards would benefit from experience with all ages.
b) Psychoanalysis is a “multi modal technique.” Rather than describing analysis as an ever-narrowing technique applicable to fewer and fewer people, we should reclaim the techniques of the past and integrate the findings of new challenging ideas.
c) Focus on and describe the realistic goals of analysis rather than forcing therapists to battle with each other over techniques.
d) Find a language (as Freud did in the original German) that appeals to ordinary people who need help rather than pseudo scientific jargon.
If elected I would try to engage with others to see if we can find a way to make psychoanalysis relevant again to the many who need a human and humane approach to psychic distress and help analysts regain the pride and confidence that psychoanalysis deserves.
List of Positions
Chair, Child and Adolescent Training Committee, Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute. Training and Supervising Analyst, Contemporary Freudian Society New York, IPA. Supervising Analyst (Child/Adolescent), Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute. Geographic Rule Supervisor, APsaA, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Saint Louis, IPE (NYU). Editorial Boards: J.I.C.A.P., Richard e Piggle, Adolescenza. Michigan Psychoanalytic Society: Chairman, Arrangements Committee, Chairman, Program Committee. Treasurer. Association for Child Psychoanalysis, Councillor and member of the Executive, Program, Peer Review and Membership Committees. Chair, Awards Committee.
Mary Kay O'Neil
I believe in a strong, vibrant and relevant IPA. While 1-1/2 years is a short time to become familiar with all the intricacies of our multi-national and multi-lingual organization, I have worked effectively with North American, European and Latin American Colleagues towards common goals and objectives. In the process, I was able to address complex and difficult-to-solve challenges such as:
- the decline in applications for psychoanalytic training
- maintaining high education standards and increasing research opportunities;
- enhancing members’ abilities to offer psychoanalysis as a central service;
- increasing community awareness of the value of psychoanalysis;
- addressing the problems of an aging membership and a high percentage of older candidates, both of which present major financial, ethical and organizational risks for the IPA.
With belief in a transparent, democratic and responsive IPA, I participated in the Board’s work in a persistent, determined, supportive manner focusing my efforts on building consensus and working in a harmonious, ethical way.
Specifically, as a member of CAPR (Committee on Administrative Policy Review)
I contributed to:
- the review of the new IPA Executive Director;
- a survey of the aging psychoanalyst problem and its effects on the IPA;
- promotion of staff effectiveness and members' contact with the central office;
- promotion of IPA research opportunities while encouraging the best use of limited funds and regular reporting on research results.
As North American Link to Canada and Japan, I informed Societies within this constituency on the work of the IPA Board.
Recently appointed as the North American Link to the International Research Board, I will work with representatives from the three Regions to improve communication between the Board and the IRB and underline the Board’s commitment to promoting and funding psychoanalytic research.
My prior experience as Director of a local Institute and as Secretary/Treasurer of the Canadian Institute, as a Faculty member and Training & Supervising Analyst, as a Member of the IPA’s Publication Committee, a Member of IPA Dues Advisory Committee and Working Group, as a participant on Ethics Committees at local, regional and international levels and as a provider of psychoanalysis for over 40 years, has served me well in contributing to the work of the IPA Board.
I believe I can continue to make a strong contribution as a North American Representative to the IPA Board. If re-elected, my efforts to strengthen our organization will continue. My experience and personal investment in the Board's work qualify me to continue for a second term. It would be an honor to be re-elected as a Canadian woman psychoanalyst to this important position.
List of Positions
IPA Committees: Publication; Dues Advisory; Dues Working Group; Research & Development, CAPR; Ethics: Consultant & Member. Director, Canadian Institute of Psychoanalysis (QE); Institute Faculty. Secretary/treasurer Canadian Institute of Psychoanalysis. Canadian Psychoanalytic Society (QE) Committees: Curriculum; Chair-Professional Wills; Conference “Confidentiality& Society”; Institute Faculty. Toronto Psychoanalytic Society Committees: Ethics; Candidate Selection; Chair of Ethical and Professional Standards; Faculty. American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) Committees: History & Archives; Chair: Discussion Group - Post-Analytic Contact. IJP: North American Editorial Board; JAPA, Canadian Journal of Psychoanalysis (CJP): Reviewer.
Joann K. Turo
In support of my nomination for the North American Representative to the Board of the International Psychoanalytic Association, I offer the following statement.
In 1973, I attended my first IPA Congress in Paris. My experience at this Congress of welcoming inclusivity and intellectual stimulation among different psychoanalytic cultures was a significant factor in my decision to pursue psychoanalytic training at The New York Freudian Society, recently renamed The Contemporary Freudian Society. I graduated in 1985, became a Training & Supervising Analyst in 1995 and Chair of the Training Analyst Selection Panel in 2000. In this position, I determined the often-demoralizing evaluation procedure for TA appointment was at the root of distress in our increasingly exclusionary, two-tiered society.
Later, this experience informed me as Vice-President of NYFS and as member of a Task Force on the transformation of our TA appointment procedure from rigorous subjective committee evaluations to change to the applicant’s self –assessment of readiness for appointment based on objective and verifiable criteria. (See Hall, J, Richards, A, Sloate, P, & Turo, J, Panel Report, IPA 2007Congress, Berlin).
In addition to my advocacy for democratic, transparent processes in TA appointment procedures without sacrificing standards and for inclusivity in organizational policies and procedures, I have been inspired by Freud’s vision that psychoanalysis should be open to candidates from disciplines outside of medicine. His vision influenced my chairing a NYFS Task Force for approval of a New York State License Qualifying Program in psychoanalysis, available to candidates from a variety of disciplines.
Over the years, I have attended IPA Congresses; have participated in clinical and research presentations related to psychoanalytic education and clinical psychoanalysis; I have found the IPA Working Groups extremely rewarding.
If elected an IPA Board Representative, I will work to support the mission of the IPA in promoting the growth and development of the science of psychoanalysis. I will also work diligently to serve as an effective ”conduit” in the bidirectional communication between the IPA Executive Board and the representative independent constituent organizations in the United States.
This introduction to some of my relevant professional activities reflects my framework of values: fairness in transparent democratic processes and inclusivity; ethical standards in praxis of psychoanalysis; facility and attention to the rules of organizational governance but not to the exclusion of open-mindedness. All these values contribute to the backbone, heart, and spirit of vital psychoanalytic organizational life.
In a closing “après coup” or “nachtraeglichkeit”, these values enveloping my professional life have origins in my immigrant Italian father’s love of American Democracy and my Bostonian-Irish mother’s devotion to evenhandedness and fairness, which was influenced by her family’s practice in legal and judicial professions. Growing up in small New England coastal town, I experienced a two-tiered society of the Founding Yankee Fathers and the Irish, Polish, Italian immigrants. Over the course of time, the future generations of college educated children of these immigrants brought gradual changes to a noticeably more egalitarian community.
List of Positions
Vice-President of the Contemporary Freudian Society, formerly the New York Freudian Society, (2003-2006); Training and Supervising Analyst (1995-present); Chair of the Training Analyst Selection Panel (2000-02); Chair of the Task Force on Application for New York State License Qualifying Program in Psychoanalysis, ( 2007- 2010); Member of Task Force & Co-Designer of Research Evaluation of Change in CFS Training Analyst Selection Policy and Procedures; Ethics Committee (1995 -2003); Institute Progression Committee (2010 – present).