APA’s Methodical Approach to Communication

I turned the key with a quick flick of the wrist. As usual, the mail came tumbling out of the mailbox. Bills, laboratory results, advertisements. But one thing in particular caught my eye: a plain white postcard. It was addressed to me as president of APA, with no return address and no signature. Using laborious cursive, the postcard’s writer exhorted me not to be silent. The poignancy of the lack of any adornment, the eerie absence of identification or signature, and the urgent message made me gasp.

It has become a familiar refrain, with similar messages cramming my email inbox daily as well—many from psychiatrists I know, and just as many from members I have yet to meet. Psychiatrists around the country are asking to be heard. And I hear them.

The challenge for APA is to express the views that we hold dear and to protect our patients, our profession, and our members. But we must be clear that our overarching, long-term goal is to be at the table, to have the opportunity to be at the table with this and any future presidential administration. It is only by maintaining an alliance that we have any possibility of expressing our opinion to the administration.

Understandably, for many of our members, this is a frustrating situation. Some of you would prefer that we speak up immediately and vigorously when issues that affect APA’s interests come up and that we be both visible and audible on the issues about which you are concerned. In contrast, others of you believe that APA should refrain from getting involved in political situations.

But our responsibility is to be methodical and careful; to speak up in such a way that the message might get through; to balance intended effect and unintended consequence.

What you as a member should know is that both the APA administration and elected officers are attuned to your concerns. We are listening to your entreaties and reading your notes in detail. We understand that the membership may at times be frustrated that there is not more action, but the apparent lack of action is not passivity. It is not fear. It is watchful and deliberate. We pledge to represent you and your concerns in an effective and strategic manner. ■