MCPP Board of Directors Meeting January 2026 Minutes

Virtual Meeting January 11, 2026 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Present : David Freiband, Shil Sengupta, Tamra Frei, Alex Houseknecht, Karen Weber, Linda Young, Lisa Larson, Marissa Keep, Joe Hull, Robert Cohen

President :D. Freiband

Voted to approve November minutes as modified. Cohen seconded. Passed unanimously.

Shared results of conversation with Reena Liberman regarding MCPF funds.

Liberman had made clear to Freiband that MCPF wanted the Board to use them to support at least one program a year.

Liberman will follow up after next MCPF meeting to clarify the process for

requesting funds from MPCF. This would include providing a clear budget for a given event.

Houseknecht would like to shadow Freiband as he (Freiband) makes his next request (including budget proposal) to MCPF

Freiband clarified that ACCESS program belongs to MCCP, not MCPF

Treasurer: T. Frei

Accounts are down approximately $5000 , primarily due to decrease in financial investments in the markets

Board received approximately $5000 from individuals renewing their memberships

Freiband successfully transferred $5000 from cash investments to checking account to increase cash reserves.

Confirmed that Sengupta will assume Schwab account access in Freiband’s stead after he leaves board. However, this will only occur if

Sengupta is officially voted in as President-Elect by MPPC voting community.

Frei will follow up with Michael Rudy to understand structure of our funds (since he originally set this up). This Board is encouraging this in light of the

funds going down as the markets have been rising.

Co VP of Programs: Alex Houseknecht

Has confirmations from Roy Barsness and Daniel Shaw, among others.

Has 4 speakers (out of 8 potential spots) confirmed for next year.

Keep shared feedback from single question poll addressing question of whether individuals would be likely to attend in person at meetings where

speaker is virtual. She shared that the majority of the 37 people who responded (57%) were primarily against meeting in person when the

speaker is virtual.

Board members decided that it was best to revisit this issue next year.

Meanwhile, Keep’s periodically scheduled social gatherings can provide a way for members to meet in person this year.

Facilitation of upcoming Speaker presentations: In Freiband’s absence from the next meeting, Houseknecht agreed to tentatively host those

meetings, though he will follow up to confirm. He and Lorrain will have a flexible rotating schedule for hosting meetings the next academic year.

Website: Karen Weber

All is running smoothly.

Co VPs Membership: Linda Young, Lisa Larson

Young reported that, after discussion with Weber, she learned that it is best to send out membership renewal letters in the middle of December.

This is an optimal interval that is not too early or too late.

She clarified that sending them out too early creates the problem of people promptly responding not being counted among members for the

new year.

She reported that we have 42 renewed members as of the previous day.

We have 62 people registered for current day’s meeting.

Discussion ensued about how to address people who have not renewed.

Those who want CEs will automatically get prompted to register as members.

Those who attend meetings without requesting CEs will be contacted to receive renewal reminders after some time has past. Weber and Young

will decide when that appropriate time is.

Larson shared that, while retiring from her practice, she will continue in her role as Co VP of Membership.

 Social Liason: Marissa Keep

Confirmed official date of January 31, 2026, for next social gathering at Ann Arbor District library from 2-4pm.

Discussion of Board Positions

Freiband shared that he had talked to Marybeth Atwell who will first contact each of the nominated board members to see if they are

interested in running, prior to sending out the official ballots.

Freiband learned that if Sengupta gets elected, subsequently leaving his role as Secretary, there isn’t a regulatory requirement to have a single

person officially in the position of Secretary, according to feedback from Frei and Lorrain,

So, the role of Secretary can be a rolling position, creating less urgency for the position to be filled if Sengupta were to be elected President.

PSIAN affiliation

Young shared that we are officially a member of PSIAN

Young clarified to PSIAN that we will re-evaluate our membership at the end of the year (in lieu of being automatically renewed).

Young shared that the organization, very broadly inclusive, does a lot of political and public facing advocacy work, including advocating for mental

health services without the constraints of insurance company demands.

She encourages any Board member to contact her if they have any questions.

ACCESS Program

The essential question for the Board is the following: given the dwindling population of certified psychoanalysts and certified psychodynamic

psychotherapists, how do we vet for new supervisors (as well as supervisees)

in a way that is ethically, legally, and financially responsible?

The main priority for the organization is to understand our legal liability, which, in turn, will help us decide whether to reinvigorate the ACCESS program.

 Frei will pass on information about our liability insurance to Young, who can

follow up with them to clarify the nature of our liability in the context of potentially revitalizing the ACCESS program.

Cohen will contact Sonya Freiband to clarify what her knowledge is with respect to liability, given her institutional knowledge regarding this program.

Cohen motioned that we skip the February meeting and reconvene in March.

Freiband seconded, and Board passed unanimously.



Freiband moved to adjourn meeting and Larson seconded, and the Board

passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned.

Next MCPP Board meeting to be held on March 22, 2026, at 9am in person.