The American Academy of Psychoanalysis, which is composed of psychiatrists who are psychoanalysts or are dynamically oriented, is working more closely with APA to benefit both organizations. AAP members and APA have already profited from this new bond, as academy members have increased their participation on APA committees, task forces, study groups, and symposia.

The AAP is encouraging APA members to attend its next meeting, which will be held May 11 to 14 in conjunction with APA’s 2000 annual meeting in Chicago. The theme of the AAP meeting is "What Is the Clinical Practice of Psychoanalysis?," and the cochairs are Richard Chessick, M.D., and Ronald Turco, M.D. The AAP, in collaboration with the American Psychoanalytic Association, will present a symposium during APA’s annual meeting as well. In addition, the AAP has submitted a proposal to present a session at APA’s Institute on Psychiatric Services in October 2000.

What’s more, APA members are invited to contribute articles to the Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis on topics relevant to the AAP’s mission: providing a forum for the expression of ideas, concepts, and research in psychoanalysis and dynamic psychiatry and to inquire into the phenomena of individual motivation and behavior. AAP members are likewise eager to help APA members with training programs and mentorships because, as AAP President Ann-Louise S. Silver, M.D., explained, "Our members tend to be activists. . . . As an organization and as individuals, we are working to promote training in and applications of dynamic psychiatry and psychoanalysis."

The AAP can also provide APA members with speakers on numerous topics relevant to psychoanalysis and dynamic psychiatry.

The AAP was established in 1956 in Chicago. Founding members included Clara Thompson, M.D., William Silverberg, M.D., Janet Rioch, M.D., Ralph Crowley, M.D., Jules Masserman, M.D., Irving Bieber, M.D., Abraham Kardiner, M.D., Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, M.D., Sandor Rado, M.D., Robert Heath, M.D., Franz Alexander, M.D., and Leon Saul, M.D.

Rioch was named president. As she wrote in a letter inviting psychoanalysts to join the organization: "There is now present a ferment of ideas, a critical self-appraisal and a questioning of accepted premises by responsible and competent students in the field of psychoanalysis who are not reaching adequately other equally serious and competent students, for mutual discussion, appraisal, and stimulation. The process of communication by forum is of value to encourage honest exchange of scientific opinion and observations; to build upon and expand those basic premises which survive critical scrutiny; to have the courage to discard that which cannot be regarded as scientifically valid in the light of our present knowledge. It is within the best traditions of scientific inquiry that we approach the study of human behavior with modesty and with receptive but critical curiosity. This approach includes the precious right to be wrong. . . ."

Or as Silver observed the AAP’s inception 44 years later, "Our founders represent pillars of interpersonal psychoanalysis, theoreticians emphasizing the role of culture and society, pioneers of revisionist theories of gender, and founders and developers of psychoanalytic group therapy, family therapy, and psychodrama."

As for the current AAP, it has 650 members. Fellows in the academy have all completed psychiatry residencies and gone on to graduate from a psychoanalytic institute. They are referred to as medical psychoanalysts. Psychiatric members in the academy, who have equal voting and office-holding rights with the fellows, are psychiatrists who are trained in psychodynamics and maintain a dynamic focus in their practices. Psychiatric associates include psychiatry residents and other psychiatrists who are interested in affiliating with the AAP. They do not vote. Scientific associates are nonphysician psychoanalysts who have made substantial national contributions to the field and who have been invited to join the academy.

Regarding the AAP’s mission during the next few years, Silver has this vision: "We at the academy want to be a rallying place, a professional home for dynamic psychiatry and for psychoanalysis in all its evolving permutations."

The AAP’s address is 47 East 19th Street, Sixth Floor, New York, N.Y. 10003-1323; telephone: (202) 475-7980, e-mail: AAPNY@aol.com; and Web address: <www.aapsa.org>.