MCPP Board of Directors Meeting Minutes May 2019

Michigan League

Ann Arbor MI

May 19, 2019

9am – 10:30am

Attendance:

Present:   Sonya Freiband, David Freiband, Ralph Hutchison, Lisa Larson, Peter Wood, Mary Nowack, Brian Ashin, Karen Weber, Eve Avrin, Alice Michael, Debra Hutton

1. Secretary: D. Hutton

The minutes of the meeting of April 14, 2019, presented by Alice Michael, were approved with no revisions.

2. President: S. Freiband

(a) Comings and goings

Sonya thanked outgoing board members Keri Warren, Alice Michael, Ralph Hutchison and Deb Hutton for their service on the board.

She welcomed Eve Avron as our new treasurer, Peter Wood in his new role as president, and Shil Sangupta (not present) as member at large. Sonya will transition to Education and Training.

(b) CEUs were approved by APA for the next five years until 2024. Alice Michael will work on compliance and coordinate with David Freiband and Sonya Freiband to ensure that the programming and education meet the ongoing requirements for recertification in 2024.

(c) Bill Rosenthal has passed away. MCPP will send a card and a donation. Burt Karan has been hospitalized, MCPP will send a card and a plant.

(d) Psychotherapy Action Network. (PsiAN) MCPP members are encouraged to join the steering committee, which is based in Chicago. MCPP has also joined PsiAN. PsiAN’s mission is to support the tenet that Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic therapy are evidence based. Letters have been written to APA, but they are hoping to launch a compelling media and marketing campaign to educate individuals beyond the existing therapists who are already “on board.” Deb Hutton volunteered to become involved. A suggestion was made to put a link on the MCPP website to promote this collaboration and opportunity.

(e) Retreat and Banquet. So far there are 7 registrants for the retreat to be hosted at the University Club in Lansing and 17 for the banquet, to be held at Beggars Banquet. Ideas were discussed to increase the number of attendees.

Emails to encourage attendance will be sent by Peter Wood to the MCPP Community. He passed out a proposed agenda for the retreat, including a historical prospective, small group discussions and action steps for the proposed direction of MCPP for the  next three years.

3. President Elect: Peter Wood let the board know that he will be collecting books to send to Monteray, Mexico. He has been in discussion with Rena from MFA who has let him know that they will pay for the shipping of the books and are currently creating a space to store them. They are enthusiastically looking forward to our donation of books.

Peter reported that for the new teachers of the one year course, it will be important to need obtain a  description of the course as well as a bio. That includes their professional and theoretical background.

4. Treasurer: Eve passed out the Treasurer’s report. K. Warren (not present) sent this report to board members earlier in the month in which she explained the large outflows that reflect one time payments that occur in the spring. Eve noted that she will be working with Keri to facilitate the transfer of the treasurer position and is excited to be part of the board. The visiting professor dinner was offered at a loss. The opportunity to sponsor a different event was raised.

5. Membership: L Larson

N=79 current members, including efforts from the last email campaign.

Lisa mentioned that she would like to transition out of this position and become a member at large.

7. Education and Training: S Freiband noted that future advertising for the year courses will offer bios of the teachers. She states that some people have expressed an interest and excitement for the fall offerings, but there have been no registrations as of yet. She proposed the idea of a registrar, but also questioned the need for one.

8.8 Programs: D Freiband noted that our courses may be underpriced. A discussion on course pricing ensued. Brian Ashin proposed raising the program cost to $25 for the two CEUs. Lisa Larson seconded the motion. The proposal passed unanimously.

Additionally, David has asked that the board find another member to organize the spring symposium. Discussion to reduce the complexity of the symposium resulted in a tentative proposal to have one presenter. Peter Wood suggested Donna Orange. The board decided that more discussion would be needed.

Meeting adjourned at 10:30am. 

NOTES respectfully submitted by Deb Hutton, board secretary.

Note:  it is MCPP policy that Board meetings are open to all MCPP members.  Priority is given to Board members to address issues, but all MCPP members may speak at meetings, time permitting.