David J. Diamond

(Draft originally presented to Board 6/13/09)

Presented for Board Approval 9/21/09

I. Overview and goals: As part of the proposed re-organization of SDPSI into multiple divisions, this proposed Research and Academic Liaison Division would encompass two somewhat different sets of functions, identified by the two parts of the name.

A. The research aspect of the division is important because, in the views of many scholars, the separation of psychoanalysis from mainstream academia has had great costs, both for psychoanalysis and the others scholarly disciplines to which it might have contributed over the last 100 or more years. This aspect of the Division could the serve some or all of the following specific goals:

1. Promotion and facilitation of research on psychoanalytic topics by faculty, members, and candidates/students of SDPSI.

• Encourage role modeling by faculty and members who have published or conducted research.
• Organize support and study groups for those interested in conducting research or publishing.
• Build more research-related material into the curriculum, both in terms of specific research-related courses, but also in terms of encouraging the inclusion of relevant research into the reading lists for all appropriate courses.
• Continue to promote and sponsor presentations on relevant research as part of our extension division (as has already occurred more often over the last 1-2 years).
• Provide incentives in terms of financial support for research projects by members, and by creating annual awards and recognition for research and publications by members.

2. Promotion and facilitation of participation by faculty, members, and candidates/students of SDPSI in psychoanalytically related research conducted by others outside of SDPSI.

• Members should be encouraged to volunteer as dissertation committee members at CSPP and in other graduate school settings in clinical psychology. Such participation would serve multiple purposes: It could increase general awareness of psychoanalytic contributions to knowledge, promote recruitment for our own training programs, as well as familiarizing out members with research topics and methods in mainstream psychology.

3. Promotion of and support for scholarly writing and publication of all types (including clinical papers in addition to traditional research) by SDPSI faculty, members, and candidates/students.

B. The “academic liaison” aspect of the proposed division proposal could be defined in the broadest possible terms. It would support and seek to promote a wide range of activities seeking both to increase the visibility and relevance of psychoanalytic knowledge in local academic settings, supporting recruitment into our training programs for mental health professionals; but also offering consulting services (of both clinical and educational nature) to local schools from pre-school through the graduate and professional level. The following more specific goals could be considered:

4. Outreach and liaison with local universities and graduate schools that train mental health professionals (Depts. of psychology, psychiatry, social work, MFT programs, and other professional schools). This would potentially support recruitment into our training programs.

• UCSD Medical School, Dept. of Psychiatry, Dept. of Psychology.
• SDSU.
• CSPP-Alliant: This has been a source of many students for our training programs, patients for our candidates and psychotherapy students, and we already have 3 SDPSI members who have faculty appts. at CSPP: (Drs. Callan, Diamond, Khademi).
• National Univ. Phoenix, Chapman
• Etc.: Investigate other area professional schools.

5. Outreach and liaison with other graduate and professional schools where there is a potential overlap of interests (law schools, nursing programs, for example). Faculty at other institutes have held seminars/support/study groups for judges, for example. Further, there are more obvious places for psychoanalytic expertise, such as in forensics, child custody, jury selection, etc. There may be opportunities to engage in liaison or become involved in legal education on some of these matters. Nursing schools and nurse-practitioner programs may provide other opportunities for outreach and collaboration.

6. Outreach and liaison with undergraduate psychology departments in local colleges, universities, and community colleges.

7. Provision of consultation and educational services to local high schools, middle schools, elementary schools, and pre-school programs, both public and private.

• Here we might start with and build on the model of the Hannah Fenichel School in terms of what we have to offer. There may be possibilities of offering to consult and collaborate with guidance counselors and school psychologists in the public schools, as well as making contacts with a variety of private schools.
• We could encourage member participation in “career-day” events which are held in many schools from the elementary level up through high-school.
• Because the child-oriented members and faculty have substantial expertise in child development, we could also seek out contacts with pre-school programs, offering consultation and problem-solving about specific children, in-service training for teachers and staff, etc.

II. Structure of the Division.

The obvious problem here is that there are many potential activities and roles to fulfill under this division, and we do not want to create something that cannot be staffed. A possible preliminary step would be a survey of the knowledge, interests, and existing connections members have with various educational institutions. We could invite members with experience or existing connections to speak to the SPC about their ideas in terms of what they think would be useful and feasible.

If the Division is adopted on at least a trial basis, it may be useful to have at least two individuals involved, separating responsibility for parts I.A (research) and I.B. (academic liaison), but working together to guide the overall activities of the Division.

These two individuals could move toward the organization of a larger committee of all members who have interests in these areas and connections with other institutions. Ideally, we might identify a larger number of liaison “point persons” for various institutions, and they could report loosely to the division leaders, but this may demand time and energy that is not readily available. In the beginning, we should probably limit the goals to those that have a degree of “natural” support within SDPSI.

III. Proposed Motion to Board for Preliminary Approval of This Division:

It is proposed that the Board create, on a trial basis, a Research and Academic Liaison Division of SDPSI, and nominate/seek volunteers for 2 members to serve as co-chairs of this division. These co-chairs will share responsibilities for the dual focus of activities within the division, as described above.

In accordance with the current structure of the organization and the Board, at least one of these co-chairs shall serve on the Board and the two shall have at least one vote on Board matters. Involvement by all members (not just Board members), candidates, and students will be welcomed and encouraged.