Looking to the Future

By Gordon Cohen, President Elect 

Back in 2007 EC set aside a half day work plenary at the beginning of each national meeting for a Strategic Planning session.  During the early years we used this time to develop our Mission (the underlying reason we exist), write our Competitive Edge statement (what’s unique about our organization), refine our Core Values (the guiding principles of the organization) and define our Vision (the big , bold, hairy goal where we are headed).   Since then we established the organization’s first significant goal, which is to increase our membership by 10%.  This is a long-term goal which will take us many years to achieve.

As President Elect one of my roles is to carry the mantle to the future forward.   So when I began last year, I synthesized and analyzed the ideas which EC had generated over the past six years to determine the direction for our upcoming short and long range plans .  My objective was to determine the next major goals which we will undertake as an organization.  I presented five areas for EC’s consideration. 

Following the Strategic Planning process EC rank ordered these five areas of interest to prioritize our next goal.  Over the next year I intend to present the findings in this column. 

The short term goal which emerged in Strategic Planning, which EC chose to address immediately, involves the dues reformulation for both our young professionals and Life members.   Lorrie addresses this current initiative in her President’s column.   

There are four remaining areas of interest and concern which are longer-term goals that EC considered last summer.  I’ve listed the questions in no particular order.   I will be filling you in on the results of how EC rank ordered these topics in my next column.  One of these topics was chosen by EC as the next large goal, which we hope to begin to address in 2014.  So, as a way to whet your appetites, EC was divided into the following work groups and deliberated these questions.

1. Increasing Revenue Streams: As the boomer generation ages and our membership numbers decline, supplementing our finances becomes more critical.  Develop a new program or several ideas which help generate additional revenue streams for the Academy.

2. Family Group Dilemma: One of the most complex aspects of the Academy’s social fabric are our family groups.  At last count there were 17 different family groups.  They are seen by some as what makes us unique, the glue which binds us.  For others they represent an underground sub structure which people experience as alienating.  Many find it hard to enter into family groups which are closed and too often these individuals do not maintain their membership over time.  Create a format through which members of the Academy can contend with the dilemmas which ensue from this complicated social web.

3. Public Forum for Promoting Psychotherapy:  We know so much about the value of psychotherapy both personally and professionally.  We know how to talk with our patients about its importance in their lives, but we are not as adept, when discussing this with the public at large or even with our colleagues.  We don’t focus as much on how to promote our work in the mainstream.  Some see our profession as regularly under siege, either from misinformation in the media, devaluation of our work by insurance companies and/or the political volleyball with party positioning in Congress over mental health care.  We presently have the RAP committee which is focused on research, but we need to expand the purview of this work.  Consider new modes of advocacy, so that we can highlight our strengths and persuade others about the import of our professional work.  How shall we accomplish this goal?

4. Greater Racial Diversity:  Why have we been so unsuccessful in gaining greater racial diversity over the years?  Explore this question and suggest possibilities for us to consider, with an eye to expand our racial diversity. 

Gordon Cohen  
President Elect