Scholarship Fund Raffle Brings Energy, Fun, and Funds

By Frances Compton and Linda Tillman

Frances Compton, Joanna Frederick and Arthur Weinfeld organized a Scholarship raffle fundraiser for the Academy.  The 2014 Summer Workshop raffle is the kick-off to the fundraising season for the annual Scholarship Program which now sends TWENTY new therapists to the I&C. All the members of the Scholarship Committee sold raffle tickets at $10.00 per ticket. 

We raffled three donated art pieces: a Z Rosenzweig & Pat Coyle, a Fern Beu and a Frances Compton.  We also raffled two cash prizes of $100 and $200.  When the sales of the raffle tickets were totaled, we had close to $1900.00 after the two cash prizes of $200.00 and $100.00 were taken out.  The drawing of the winning tickets brought great fun to the dinner entertainment, with folks "drum rolling" their hands on the tables as each drawing took place.

At the Saturday night dinner, Joanna spoke poignantly about what it has meant to be a scholar and now a member.  Frances thanked all for their patience and generosity.  Arthur pointed out that the future of the Academy depends on programs such as these.

The winners were:  Sara Trace, new member and former scholarship winner, won Z and Pat’s framed art used for the cover of the SW brochure; Steven Ingram won Fern Beu’s piece; and Jenny Pelligrini won the Frances Compton piece.  Doug Cohen won the $100 prize and Don Murphy won the $200 prize.

Everyone had a good time with the raffle event and we gathered enough funds to pay for two scholarships at the I&C.  If you would like to donate to the Scholarship fund to help us bring new therapists to the I&C, click here.

Come to the I&C in Austin

59th Annual Institute and Conference

Austin, Texas

Bring Your Inner Cowgirl and/or Cowboy to Austin in November!

July is not too soon to begin making plans to join your AAP colleagues in bringing AAP’s unique focus on the person of the therapist to the “third coast” therapist community. If you haven’t read your brochure yet, NOW is the time! We have a fantastic program, a great Hyatt hotel location downtown on the shore of Lake Austin with direct access to the Hike and Bike trail and downtown Austin. Austin weather in early November is mild to warm days and cooler nights, so pack layers along with your walking/running shoes. 

 A program change: Z’s workshop, #21, is open to MEN only. 

 Remember that the cut off date BOTH for registering for the I&C AND for reserving rooms at the Hyatt Regency Hotel is September 1, 2014! 

Please note:  Our contact person at the Hyatt Regency Austin hotel STRONGLY recommends you register FOR YOUR HOTEL ROOMS online by clicking here.  By doing so you will be able to view all the options available in our room block and choose what best suits your needs.  You also are assured of getting our negotiated rate on any room in the block.  If you can't register online or need help, please you this number to contact a hotel reservation agent who SHOULD be able to help:  888 421 1442.  Please try these before calling the            Town Lake Trail         hotel directly.

If you have suggestions for books for the I&C Bookstore, please send them to Roy at mailto:royclymer@gmail.com

 If you have not received your brochure and would like a paper copy or extras for your local colleagues, please contact Allyssa Adams (518-463-8664/aap@caphill.com) or visit aapweb.com for the online brochure. 

Ellen Carr – Publicity & Volunteers 

Phyllis and Roy Clymer – Co-chairs

A Newcomer's Perspective on EC from Your Newly Elected Secretary

By Jonathan Farber

     I'd heard the legends, of course, told around the AAP campfire as the light wanes and the marshmallows splutter out, leaving us in the Darkness-That-Swallows-All. After the horrifying tales like the disallowed insurance claims dating from 2009 and the 60-page ethics complaint...

then is heard the whispered name of  EC....EC......E!...C!  I'd heard EC compared to everything from the Bellevue acute admissions unit to the North Korean Joint Chiefs.  But nothing I'd heard prepared me for the reality.  Because the reality was  surprisingly sane.

     For one thing, there is a great deal of structure to the meetings these days, and we all know structure tends to contain both interpersonal and intrapsychic pathology.   The agenda is set months in advance, and each committee has prepared a report which EC members have the chance to review ahead of time. The report summarizes the work the committee accomplished and the work yet to be done, and specifies the issues the committee wants addressed in the meeting (e.g. additional guidance, staff, or financial support).  The president (Lorrie Hallman) chaired the meeting, and because we all wanted to get the work done and get out of there on time, there were few complaints each time she chose to rein in extended discussion and refocus on completing the agenda.

     Besides the sanity, another surprise to me was the amount of time spent checking and updating the Policy and Procedures Manual.  When people aren't sure how to do something...they consult the manual.  When we decide to change how we do something, we change the manual. So there is always a current and accessible description, in plain English, for every essential Academy function.   The past president (Margaret Nichols) has familiarized herself with this voluminous and evolving document with the obsessive passion of a Talmudist. Using what must be some kind of dedicated cross-referencing structure in her brain, she points out when a change in one place logically requires changes in other passages located elsewhere in the manual.  Considering the complexity, this also goes rather smoothly, and the result is that any of us doing work for the Academy has ready access to the experience of past members, and leaves guidance to future members.   

      The discussions were mostly to the point, and always respectful, and everyone's input was welcomed and considered.  About half the 20 or so who were present were not elected members: they were there as committee members or chairs, e.g. the historian (Sue Timms), the training chair (Stephanie Spalding) or the program chairs for future national events, or the Voices editors.  So there was sometimes a mild awkwardness when an official vote was required for the record, or as required by the constitution, and only the elected half us could cast a vote.  

     To me, the most impressive discussions involved the complex issues, because we integrated perspectives from diverse corners of the Academy. The matter of raising dues, for instance, began with our treasurer (Robin Truitt) showing us that the current budget was not sustainable without increased revenue, and then the membership chair (Nelia Rivers) and the retention chair discussing the implications for members; the program chairs estimating income from their future conferences...you get the idea. In some of the discussion, I realized afterwards, we played out our familiar Sluggers (“Face reality and balance the budget”) versus Huggers (“But we'll upset our friends, and maybe lose good people”). So we Slugged and we Hugged and developed various complex and creative solutions, until we settled on one plan, and voted to go with it. Even most of the controversial topics ended up with unanimous or nearly unanimous votes, and I assure you, this wasn't because these members were afraid to disagree with each other.

     Of course, EC is part of AAP, so it begins and ends with – you guessed it – a process group.  Negative experiences from within the room and from elsewhere in our lives were aired and addressed. Positive connections were honored and celebrated, and often proved contagious.  Overall, there was the satisfied feeling of having accomplished meaningful work. Together.      

      I'll be back.

      DAMMIT, who finished the graham crackers while I was talking?

New Faces at Summer Workshop

New Faces at Summer Workshop

By Nelia Rivers Membership and Mentoring Chair

As membership and mentoring chairperson, I have had the privilege of processing applications of new members. As they are accepted these members are recognized and introduced in the newsletter. For their full introduction, see section titled “Welcome to our most recent new members.“

This summer there were also some additional new faces who are not “new members” and I would like to recognize them by name. Carla Bauer and Curt Arey, who are associate members, were vetted by the membership committee to attend their first summer workshop. 

Other members in attendance for their first time were 3 new full members who were introduced in the newsletter of 5/5/14:   Catherine Clemmer, Alan Marcus and Sara Trace. 

Some of our members who have never attended a Summer Workshop were also there for their first time, including: Brent Coyle, Sally Atkins, James McCracken and Diane Schaffer. Welcome to 14 new faces! 

Looking Forward

Looking Forward

Gordon Cohen

Five work groups gathered during the Strategic Planning session during SW ’13 to determine our next long term goal.  Neil Makstein helped to consolidate the reactions of his group, which are reported below. 

This group focused on the question of promoting psychotherapy to the public, and unanimously decided that this issue should not become our next central goal.   While the group expressed gratitude to those members who are devoting time and energy toward this end, whether as part of the RAP Committee, or as individuals in public forums, they did not feel that AAP should elevate this issue above some of the other strategic goals which are aimed at the growth of our own organization.  

Letters to the media from our leaders and the RAP Committee have been attempted with the NY Times and elsewhere and these efforts are seen as a valuable contribution to our profession.  But, the group did not believe it would be a good expenditure of the energy of the “group as a whole” to try to influence the general public in their perceptions about psychotherapy.  

Most AAP members are also members of other professional organizations that have larger resources to devote to addressing the need for public education about psychotherapy.   So while members are encouraged to use their other organizational affiliations (state associations, national professional groups like APA or NASW, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, etc.) to voice our concerns, this subgroup reached a consensus that AAP should focus more on the immediate internal organizational concerns.  One area, however, that might be worth exploring further is whether we could have some positive influence in graduate school training programs for future psychotherapists, particularly when the focus is on one’s own practice.

Avalanche Danger

ETHICS: In Search of Integrity and Responsibility in the Work Place

Ethics Committee Members: Jane Baxter, Tyler Beach, Damon Blank, Vivian Guze, Carole Light, Jack Mulgrew, Murray Scher, Avrum Weiss, Pat Webster, Marilyn Schwartz, Chair

Avalanche Danger – Dealing with Your Professional Licensing Board 

By Marilyn Schwartz

An alarming number of licensed mental health professionals in the state of Georgia have recently been caught either failing to renew their licenses in a timely manner or failing to submit a picture or evidence of citizenship, which is a new requirement. In the latter cases, the licensing board sometimes processed the renewal application and payment but did not actually renew the license. In a number of these cases, the mental health professional assumed his or her license had been renewed because payment had been accepted.  These therapists did not discover their error for months or sometimes even two years later when the licensing board charged them with practicing without a license.

If you discover your license has expired for six months or less, you can fairly safely call your licensing board and ask for your license to be reactivated by paying a small fine. If, however, your license has been expired for a longer time, you may need to call a lawyer first to help you deal with the licensing board. Communicating with your licensing board on your own can be perilous. Many clinicians naively assume that boards exist to help you resolve licensing questions or problems.  However, licensing boards are state regulatory agencies whose primary purpose is to enforce the laws of your state. Because they are charged with protecting the public by following the letter of the law, they may at times act counter to your interests or even your patients.

Licensing boards demonstrate that they are doing their job by identifying violators and administering penalties. Communicating directly with your board may unfortunately lead to your coming under their scrutiny. For example, if your license has expired for more than six months and you call your licensing board, you will be asked if you are still practicing. If you answer “yes,” be prepared for sanctions such as a “cease and desist” order barring you from practice, or an order to inform all your patients and their insurance companies that you have been practicing without a license, or a request for your patient records, or a heavy fine, and worst case scenario, threat of revocation of your license. 

With the exception of your initially applying for your license, you may be involved in a questionable legal situation whenever you have contact with your licensing board.  If you suspect this is the case, our best advice is first to seek counsel from a lawyer with experience in administrative law and with experience dealing with the licensing boards in your state.  

And remember: REACH OUT TO US, YOUR ETHICS COMMITTEE FOR HELP. We’ve acquired knowledge and experience dealing with licensing boards. We can advise you and we’ll support you.  

We can advise you and we’ll support you.  

The President's Column

Happy spring to everyone!  I hope all of you have at least felt intimations of spring by now.  And, if it’s spring, it’s time to register for Summer Workshop.  At the publication of this newsletter, we have 162 registrants.  I invite more of you to take another look at the brochure (on the website, if you’ve lost yours) and consider spending a few days with us in peaceful North Georgia focusing on yourself and your work with patients.  I, myself, am really looking forward to communing with horses and learning what they have to teach me about myself and how I approach relationships.  I just might learn something from humans too.

I want to welcome publicly and personally the new members voted in by EC conference call March 31^st: three student members and six full members.  Please read about them in detail elsewhere in this issue and be prepared to meet the new full members this summer.  Also, I hear from our Membership Chair that we have four more qualified applicants in the process of completing their applications who also want to come to the Summer Workshop.  You will have a chance to vet them for the required 30 days, before EC takes a vote on accepting them to membership or not.  Please give them your careful consideration as always.

It is with great sadness and appreciation that I acknowledge the death of two of our valued members, E. Mark Stern and Jerry Travers.  Each of these men made extraordinary contributions to our community during their lives and will be sorely missed by many of us.  You can read our members’ tributes to them within these pages.  Above all, I feel acutely aware of the tender fragility of us all and am grateful to be able to share this part of my life journey with each of you. 

I find that holding the office of president has given me a good look at the whole of us, some leaving and some coming in, some taking on the honor and responsibility of holding office or chairing a committee or working behind the scenes, and some watching or resting.  Your sincere caring for the Academy and our mission is most evident to me as we approach each of our national meetings.  You all warm my heart and some of you amaze me.  Giving my time and energy and heart to the Academy has come to benefit me in unanticipated, but deep and permanent ways.

For several years I have had the habit of listening to music while I take my walks and imagining myself singing many of these songs to you in the talent show.  I just recently realized that a part of that fantasy (the part that doesn’t have to do with exhibitionism) has to do with wanting to sing you love songs, songs about ecstasy and despair, about unrequited love and being steadfastly loved, about falling in and out of love, songs about how beautiful you are and sometimes how not beautiful you are.  In my dreams and in my life, you are my chosen family, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, and, just maybe, until death do us part.

Lorrie Hallman, 

AAP President