Search New Center for Psychoanalysis

It has been my pleasure to start my term as your President this summer. I want to thank Past President Paulene Popek and welcome new board members Aranye Fradenburg Joy, Debra Myers, and Brian Stachowiak. We are all working firsthand on the following: a new membership survey I hope you all will take the time to complete (your voice is important), a final round of bylaw votes (your vote is important), a new slate of Scientific Meetings and Extension Programs, revitalized outreach efforts to boost training enrollment, our application to the state for approval to operate from the BPPE, and our next steps as we discuss our individual and collective takeaways from the Holmes report.

To that end, the Board met numerous times over the summer in small study groups to discuss the findings of the Holmes Commission on Racial Equality in American Psychoanalysis. Many of us can agree that the work in reading the report and participating in the study groups has been both challenging and enormously thought-provoking. We have also held preliminary conversations with a Diversities, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consultancy firm familiar with psychoanalytic societies and institutes. The goal is to continue this internal work, and with the guidance of consultants, lay the groundwork for us all to systematically implement diversity, equity, and inclusion into our policies, clinical, teaching, leadership, communication, and community-building skills. Please send an email to silvermanhe@hotmail.com with your feedback so that I can share it with the board. I look forward to hearing from you all in the years ahead.