WHAT KIND OF APsA DO WE ASPIRE TO BE?
I appreciate Bill's reflections on this shared priority of expanded membership, which is deeply aligned with APsA's mission. My view is that APsA must define itself both by whom we welcome and by the integrative vision that unites us-a center for rigorous psychoanalytic inquiry across clinical, cultural, and intellectual traditions.
HOW DID WE ARRIVE AT THIS MOMENT OF EXPANDED MEMBERSHIP?
Our progress builds on decades of work by psychoanalytic psychotherapists and psychotherapy leaders who consistently advocated for lowering barriers while maintaining standards. Bill Glover and Kerry Sulkowicz also deserve recognition for their presidential leadership during the pandemic in widening our doors to psychoanalytically minded clinicians, scholars, and community partners. During Kerry's term, the Expanded Membership bylaw revision (2023) passed with an 81.1% majority of votes cast.
WHAT HAVE WE ACHIEVED TOGETHER?
To move this initiative from idea to action, I have worked with psychotherapists and analysts in my roles as Secretary and as Executive Committee Director. I collaborated with Psychotherapist Committee Co-Chairs Katie Fleming-Ives and Cindy Lucas, Membership Chair Deana Shuplin, Director-at-Large Linda Michaels, and with President Dan Prezant, President-Elect Bonnie Buchele, and ExCom colleagues to pilot a national outreach effort to welcome psychoanalytic psychotherapists to APsA. The event drew 240 registrants, of whom 74 attended the Open House. We now have plans for additional outreach to new institutes.
WHAT LEADERSHIP DOES APsA NEED NOW?
This project exemplifies what I love about collaboration-how the wisdom, talent, and imagination of our members can create something none of us could have built alone. APsA now needs steady, integrative leadership that honors our past, plans for succession with care, and moves us forward.
WHY AM I PREPARED TO GUIDE APsA FORWARD?
I feel fortunate to have on-the-ground experience leading an international institute where psychotherapy and analytic programs have coexisted for decades. This work has taught me to hold differences with clarity, turn tension into progress, and foster belonging-showing how psychotherapists and psychoanalysts can learn and work together harmoniously. It is this experience that grounds my conviction that APsA can embrace an integrated future with confidence.
