2014 Annual Letter to the Membership 

January 11, 2014

Dear Academy Member,

Happy New Year from the board members of the Academy for the Study of the Psychoanalytic Arts.  

As you all know, we are a theoretically and geographically diverse group that shares the common goals of re-thinking psychoanalysis as an art rather than a science or a "health-care profession", and of ensuring that the privacy and autonomy so very necessary for psychoanalytic practice are solidly protected.

Just a couple of months ago we cosponsored a conference with MiSPPs  - the Michigan Society for Integrative Psychoanalysis.  We were very pleased with the great turn out and enthusiasm from participants during the interesting presentations and discussions.  The topic of our Fall conference had to do with "humanizing psychoanalysis" and promoting an alternative and heartfelt approach to the psychoanalytic process - - no easy task in this country's current and ever changing culture of healthcare  -- a culture within which our license and our practice is expected to reside and reshape itself.   Diagnostic requirements, standardized practices, and insurance reimbursement regulations all violate essential privacies and, by necessity, pull the psychoanalytic space and endeavor toward a new and different world.  A world where it becomes extremely difficult for an analytic practitioner to truly respect and prioritize (verses pathologize) the human desire to simply reach inward, to explore, to feel, to discover, to want to deeply understand what it means, and what it IS to experience and grapple with one's own basic humanity... at one's own pace, and in one's own unique way.

There has been interest expressed from Academy members to address the problem of maintaining confidentiality in the current and rapidly changing/dehumanizing healthcare market.  As the Academy considers the possibility of developing and making available professional development activities organized around non-medical, contemporary psychoanalytic thinking, we encourage you to get involved and even think about presenting at our next gathering.
This past year has brought many new challenges and opportunities for practitioners and professional organizations.  The Academy Board has concluded that restructuring as a new nonprofit organization, independent of the Michigan Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (MSPP), would now best serve our mission for the present and in the years to come.  We welcome and encourage your participation in this process.  There are many opportunities for members to be involved in restructuring our organization.  

The Academy Board has consulted an attorney regarding establishing the separate nonprofit organization.   The necessary paperwork is in process.  It is the Board's intention that the current by-laws and mission be retained as much as is possible.  However, our organization will possibly adopt a new name, and will have a new tax identification number.   We will be providing updates to the membership along the way primarily through e-mail.  Be sure to update your contact information on the membership form enclosed.

What to expect:  You will notice some temporary changes to our websites www.analyticarts.org and www.academyprojects.org. We are in the process of hiring a web professional and updating the Academy websites using current technology to ensure sustainability.  This will include a period of transition and rebuilding that will result in one website that will include invaluable content from both former websites.  We anticipate continued growth and development of new capabilities for membership resources and professional development including opportunities for online discussions of professional issues.  As always, we are accepting submissions to the website for review. 

Enclosed you will find your membership renewal form and a nomination election form.  Although we are restructuring, our purpose and reasons to exist remain unchanged.  Please continue to join us on this crucial and meaningful journey and renew your membership without dues for this "restructuring" year.  As well, please consider nominating yourself or a colleague for one of the open board positions.

Feedback and involvement on any level are always welcome and encouraged.  Please contact the Board President, Bethann Kalt, Ph.D. at bethann933@aol.com or (248) 626-5600.

Best regards,

Bethann Kalt, Ph.D., Gordon E. MacKinnon, Ph.D., Katherine Hitchcock, Ph.D., 
David St. John, Ph.D., and Theresa Egan, Ph.D.
The Academy for the Study of the Psychoanalytic Arts