MICHIGAN PSYCHOANALYTIC COUNCIL
Meeting of the Board
Women’s City Club
Ann Arbor, Mi
February 17, 2013
Minutes
Present: David Klein (acting chair), Peter Wood, Marybeth Atwell, Michael Rudy, Laura Pierce, Sonya Freiband, Ralph Hutchison, Michele Rivette
Minutes from the January board meeting were approved.
Treasurer: Michael Rudy reported that our net worth is close to what it has typically been: $54,971. This includes $17,015 of operating funds. Memberships are close to previous years at this point, with 76 memberships paid as of 2/15/13, for a total income of $11,650 so far. Other memberships and analyst fees are likely to come in after a follow-up letter is sent to those who have not yet paid. Since September we have had $12,000 more in income than we have spent. While we still need to be prudent to cover upcoming expenses of Visiting Professor, Retreat, Sunday Meetings, etc., we appear to have enough to cover these expenses.
The Board asked Michael to track how our net worth and operating fund compare to the past three years.
There was a discussion of what MPC’s financial goals are, with the idea that we can strategize about investing after that is determined – to be continued at later meetings.
President: Beth Waiess was unable to attend. David Klein presided over this meeting in her stead.
Past President: Not present
President-elect: David Klein noted that the latest Bulletin will go to the printer this week.
Training: Peter Wood reported that Janet Robinson, who had to withdraw from the position of membership chair due to illness, is in good spirits and hopes to return to meetings as soon as she can.
The board expressed appreciation to Janet for donating her books to MPC. Peter has them now, along with donations from other retirees. Peter raised the idea of having a book sale. We discussed various scenarios for doing this. Peter will contact Kay Sorrell to follow up on these ideas, if she is willing as head of the library committee. Michele suggested a possible silent auction at the Retreat for particularly valuable or interesting books. There was also a suggestion of selling books at our conference in October, and of selling books at Sunday meetings that have relevance to the topics being presented.
Peter reported on Child and Adult psychoanalysis courses that are set for next year. Still needed are electives, and an instructor for the psychoanalytic psychotherapy case conference. It is unclear which courses will get enough students to “go”.
The Relational program has been revised and is being advertised. There are currently 4 students interested, but they would like 6 in order to run the program.
Peter began a discussion about the cost of analysis and supervision for our candidates, and whether setting a policy for reducing the cost would help attract and support candidates in our programs.
Certification: Sonya reported that there have been a number of certified analysts from other programs seeking to be certified by MPC. There was a general sense that this was a positive development to be encouraged.
Programs: Michele reported that the lineup for next year’s programs is set. There are more people wanting to present than can be accommodated quickly, particularly those wanting to present in Ann Arbor. This raised the question of scheduling the April meeting in Ann Arbor instead of Southfield in future years.
Next year’s conference will be with Fran Waters, who is scheduled to do a 2 day event on the first weekend in October.
Dr. Wachtel may be able to reschedule with us for either next year or after that, as he feels his health will allow it. We decided that it would be better to wait until the following October, and to be assured that he will be well enough to commit to the date.
David Klein informed us that Margery Adelson has agreed to run for the office of Programs VP. Michele offered to work with her as she adjusts to the new role, and to help her with the job.
Michele also discussed her desire to revitalize PCD, as a way of attracting more people to our program who might decide to do training with us.
Membership: Michael Rudy reports that Janet Boyer will be sending out a follow-up letter to those who have not yet sent in their fees.
Elections: Marybeth Atwell reported that she is close to having a roster set for elections. Still needed are people to run for Certification VP and for Secretary. Marybeth would like to spend a bit more time trying to invite people to run for these positions before sending out the ballots. If no one has expressed interest, she will list these as “write-in” positions. The Board agreed with this plan.
PCD: no report
Bulletin: see above
Website: no report
Accreditation Work Group: Ralph Hutchison reported that the committee is writing up policy statements for subjects listed in the ACPE self-study guide, using policies already written up where applicable, and are proposing new policies where none exist or changes are recommended by the committee. When these are finished, they will be presented to the membership at the Retreat and elsewhere, discussed, revised as warranted, and voted on. Peter noted that the idea is to decide what best “fits” for our organization at this point in time, preserving our “uniqueness” but not being “fossilized” by where we started out.
Newsletter: Sonya moved, and Laura seconded the motion previously approved by email vote that $250 be budgeted to Barb Gamble for color printing and mailing of the newsletter to those who have requested a paper copy. The motion passed unanimously. The Board would like to thank Barb for the terrific job on the newsletter, in appreciation for all of the hard work that was clearly put into it.
Other Business: We continued to discuss ideas about setting a cap on the cost of analysis and supervision for candidates in our programs. We also discussed the idea of encouraging supervisors and therapists/analysts to offer other professionals and potential candidates a reduced fee, if needed, in order to encourage them to become more involved with our organization.
Respectfully submitted,
Sonya Freiband