| A Membership Update and Welcome to Student/Young Professionals/Patricia Pitta | |
| Report from Council/Dorothy Cantor | |
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Time Capsule: The Beginning of Division 42/Stanley Graham |
| Stanley Graham, Ph.D. | Time Capsule: The Beginning of Division 42
In the Fall of 1978 I got a call from Sam Kutash, one of the pioneers of psychology in New Jersey. Sam was calling me to ask if I would assume the presidency of a small group called psychologists in private practice. I was honored until I saw the sumptuous list of others who had declined the honor. Nevertheless we met in Herb Freudenberger’s office to review the several hundred members (mostly from New Jersey and Georgia). The several hundred dollars in the treasury which Leah Goldfien kept in her pocketbook. There was Herb Freudenberger, Stanley Moldawsky, Richard Samuels, John Vayniger, Leah Gold-fien, Bob Weitz and Lou Field. We were wondering what to do with what was essentially a small, fraternal organization and I remember saying “Let’s become a division of APA.” Having managed the division status of Division 32, I thought this would be an easy effort. It turned out to be one of the great battles of APA Council. We argued about the name Division of Private Practice. Stanley Moldawsky and I thought that the Division of Independent Practice had a better sound to it. On the floor of Council we were a small and unsophisticated group not knowing quite where to turn. At that point, Rogers Wright, a master of APA politics moved through council gathering support for us and “managing the floor” while Marv Metsky became like a roman senator using logic and the force of his personality in speech after speech on our behalf. Many people helped but I mostly remember Sandy Haber coming forth and saying “I want to help, give me a place”. She and Ken Helfand added to our little group. We needed 68 votes and twice we got 65 in Council. We were doomed to failure. The rules said that we could only bring the vote up twice. But Florence Denmark, the President of APA at the time, simply ignored the rules and brought up to a vote and we passed with 68 votes. I was President pro tem and ran for President again and kind of hand picked Herb Freudenberger to be the second President because he was much more organized certainly less tempestuous, wiser and gentler. I think one of the most significant things I ever did for the Division was to reach out to Arthur Kovacs with whom I had served on Council for Division 29. We were I say an unsophisticated group and Arthur had then as he still has now a silver tongue and a golden pen. I asked him to become our first Council member for the new division. He said he had spent too much time in APA and wanted to go home. I cried and begged and twisted his arm and together we served five terms in the Council of APA and all of us know what a voice he has been. The list of wonderful people who followed comprised a legion of the gifted and the wonderful. But that is the way it started.
Stanley Graham, Ph.D. is a founding member and the first president of Division 42. |
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