Background

The precursors of a collaboration between the IPA and IPSO date back to preparations for the International Conference of Candidates in Psychoanalytic Training in Vienna in 1971.

The first official IPA-IPSO Task Force was jointly created in 2003 by Lee Jaffe, IPSO President, and Robert Tyson, Secretary of the IPA, with the assistance of Otto Kernberg, IPA President. Up until then, IPSO had been almost completely separate from the IPA, and it was agreed that a rapprochement between the institutions was necessary.

The IPA-IPSO Task Force’s first meeting was at the IPA Congress in New Orleans in 2003; it continued working successfully, and then later became the IPA-IPSO Relations Committee.

The aim of the IPA-IPSO Relations Committee is to foster a transparent, fruitful and collaborative relationship between the IPA and IPSO for the mutual benefit of both institutions, in the service of broad excellence in psychoanalytic training, as well as productive interactions between candidates and members.  

Mandate

• To continue to explore ways in which the two organizations can improve their collaboration and reciprocal benefit
• To monitor any current arrangements, agreements, including any legal questions that may arise
• To assist the implementation of appointment procedures of IPSO members to IPA committees (the process itself is managed directly by the IPSO President and the IPA President)
• To assist in the regular dissemination of IPSO activities in all IPA Institutes, as well as facilitating the administrative tasks that make this possible

Ways of working

The IPA-IPSO Relation Committee will be expected to do most of its work electronically, using Zoom, GoToMeeting, or other free-to-use communication systems.

The committee, like all IPA committees, will be expected to be self-supporting for secretarial and other purposes, but will have access to the web and email support services offered by IPA Staff. Any face-to-face meetings should take place, so far as possible, adjacent to IPA or regional congresses.

The Co-Chairs of the Committee will provide a written report to the Board annually, outlining the actions and achievements of the Committee in pursuit of its mandate.

In the spirit of collaboration between the IPA and IPSO, the IPA-IPSO Relations Committee’s decisions will be made by consensus.

Terms

This is a permanent committee. The IPA members of the Committee will be appointed in the usual way, by the President of the IPA and with the consent of the Board of Representatives.

Composition

The IPA-IPSO Relations Committee will consist of:

• Four IPA members: a Co-Chair, and one member from each Region.
• Four IPSO Executive Committee officers: the President, who will be Co-Chair of the IPA-IPSO Relations Committee, the President- Elect, and two other Executive Committee officers.

Budget

The Committee will propose a budget through the IPA budget cycle.

Approved by the Board, August 2021