The PANY Bulletin

Psychoanalytic Association of New York
Vol. 40, #1, Spring 2002

President's Column
Robert M. Chalfin, M.D.

At the last meeting of the PANY Board of Directors the question arose as to the mission of PANY. It was raised in the context of discussion of our financial resources which culminated in a vote to recommend a dues increase to the membership at the April business meeting. This dues increase was fueled by two issues—the falloff in income derived from dues and the increase in activities which cost money. The dues falloff is being investigated, but it was suggested to be related to an increase in non-paying life members (an interesting speculation or fantasy based, I think, on the idea of a decreased vitality of psychoanalysis or of our analytic seniors). The increased cost of activities reflects a fact as well as a fantasy.

PANY is more of an activist organization than it had been. After September 11, a response group was formed in conjunction with the NYU institute. This hasn't cost PANY any money. Members have donated time and services. This response group remains active. There have been perhaps 50 direct referrals to the group volunteers along with 10 or more consultations to organizations and groups of people. Although there is less public focus on the World Trade Center tragedy, casualties continue to make their appearence.

This leads us to something that will cost money. A Five Society Conference is planned for next fall. PANY is the organizing group, led by Don Moss and Mimi Ismi. The focus of this conference at this time is still in flux but will be related to 9/11 and its aftermath—perhaps the ongoing treatment experiences of psychoanalysts as the reverberations of this tragedy enter a second year. This will be directed, I would think, to the mental health professionals and student communities. Certainly it is outreach and education as outlined in the concept of "turning outwards" as put forth by Len Barkin and myself two years ago. In terms of post-graduate education a committee led by Len Barkin and Alan Jong (for the Institute) has set up a series of faculty-graduate analyst seminars. This spring will be one or two sessions with Dr. Steven Roose on the use of medication in psychoanalytic treatments. Prior seminars have featured Jonathan Lear, Morris Eagle, Roy Schaefer and Barry Opatow.

We also emphasized practice as the third and perhaps most important aspect of this turn outwards. This has led to our successful and growing collaboration with the NYU Medical School and Medical Center. Our visibility and presence at the medical center is certainly greater than ever before. It reflects an improved working relation with the Institute—a truer synergy. Through the Institute we have been able to tap into the considerable public relations resources of the medical center.

This leads to another outreach initiative, and a costly one at that. The conference on the Apocalyptic Imagination (more on this in an adjacent article), under the outstanding leadership of Sandy Leong with the assistance of Dennis Haseley and Claudia Lament, was an enormous success. With a paid attendence of 270 we may come close to recouping most of our costs. More important was the outstanding afternoon provided to an audience that was primarily not composed of psychoanalysts and mental health professionals. This audience heard dramatic and moving readings by three brilliant authors with informed, incisive and responsive commentary by three analysts, including Shelley Orgel (generous and thoughtful as usual). The media coverage was unusual for us with listings in New York Magazine, The New Yorker and a planned taping for National Public Radio. As well, we have increased our mailing lists exponentially—an important but costly step in outreach to people outside of psychoanalysis and related mental health fields. This mailing list will remain useful to us for future endeavors.

In the planning for this conference we had to decide how to present PANY. Who are we? How do we define ourselves? Do we need a mission statement? This is part of a transition from a primarily internal focus to a turning out more externally focused idea of our needs and aims. This takes us to another activity funded by PANY—the South Asian Psychoanalytic Forum. This was originally under the aegis of the Psychoanalytic Institute but as it relates to outreach, education and practice rather than training it became part of PANY. This year in response to the WTC tragedy it set up a series of political as well as psychoanalytically informed talks. It cost several thousand dollars which was shared equally with us by the Institute. I went to several—all extremely interesting and informative even if not always congenial with my personal views. Attendence at these sessions ranged from 75-400 people. The Forum hopefully will continue into the future.

A question has been raised several times and valuably—WHO WILL BENEFIT from these initiatives? Will it simply be those prominent in a particular program or other initiative? How do we determine the impact on the public or a special group? I think it's too early to know. Programs are cumulative, having an impact is a process that builds over time. But I do think (my fantasy) there is such a thing as momentum—maybe even a bandwagon for members to get on, hitch a ride perhaps or take on a leadership role. PANY is an organization which can provide a structure through which our members can participate—the more you participate the more you benefit. This goes from attending a scientific meeting to participating in a practice group or a conference, speaking up from the audience in the Q and A portion or presenting at a conference, giving a paper, etc. My point is those who participate will benefit. We need also a stronger internal structure—groups of people who are interested in getting things done and creating structures— committees—in order to do so. That relates to participation. Active is better than passive (and usually leads to greater success).

We also continue to try to increase the possibilities for psychoanalytic and related psychotherapy practice for our members. Website development is one way. By the time this is published, I think the PANY website will be up and running. It will describe PANY, include our scientific meetings, contain the Bulletin and list all our members. It will list those participating in our Practice Initiative. It will also have links to individual member's home pages which can serve as an opportunity for those members desiring to present themselves in greater depth. There will be more on this later.

There is also an ongoing internal survey of our members trying to garner information about special interests and expertise, insurance participation, fee structures,etc. This will be closely held information but certainly can help direct referrals of patients in particular circumstances to available practioners.

Finally getting back to the issue of mission. For the Apocalyptic Imagination Conference I wrote one, building upon the website and practice statements. It is here for you to think about, comment upon and improve upon. It's a work in progress but ... perhaps so is PANY.
The Psychoanalytic Association of New York, an organization of psychoanalysts established in1955, is a component society of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Its members, drawn mainly but not exclusively from the ranks of psychoanalysts who have been affiliated with the NYU Psychoanalytic Institute, hold degrees in medicine, psychology, and social work. Its mission is to promulgate the profession of psychoanalysis. This includes increasing public awareness of the wide usefulness of psychoanalytic ideas as well as the utility and efficacy of psychoanalytic therapies.

PANY is firmly committed to the traditions of education, research, and patient care, and carries out its mission through several functions. Through monthly scientific meetings, it provides a venue in which scholars present recent findings in psychoanalysis, and findings dealing with the relationship between psychoanalysis and other fields—child development, the neurosciences and the arts. These meetings are open to the public. To enhance the education of psychoanalytic clinicians, PANY sponsors postgraduate seminars. Our student aid fund assists psychoanalytic candidates in financing the cost of their training.

Our members offer free consultation and affordable psychotherapy to individuals in training at the NYU Medical Center and to their families. Medical students receive these services on referral from the Medical Student Health Service of the NYU School of Medicine. In response to the tragedy of September 11, a PANY-NYU Psychoanalytic Institute treatment group has been providing no cost services to those affected.
In an effort to build bridges between our field and other groups, we have developed programs that appeal to non-psychoanalysts: one such program has been to the South Asian community. We have sponsored a series of lectures on the psychological and political aftermath of September 11. Currently we are sponsoring the Creative Writers and Psychoanalysts Series.

PANY publishes the PANY BULLETIN three times a year and distributes it to members, libraries, agencies and other institutions.