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Welcome to the American College of Psychoanalysts

The College was founded on May 7, 1969, in Suite # 1170 of the Americana Hotel in Bal Harbour, Florida. Henry P. Laughlin, M.D. spearheaded the creation of the College along with many distinguished psychiatrist/psychoanalysts. Those present included Drs.

Nolan D.C. Lewis

Edward O. Harper

Arnold M. Kallen

Rubin L. Siegel

Benjamin Simon

James P. Cattell.

[Dr. Leroy Leavitt, Mental Health Commissioner of Illinois, was due to be present, but was delayed due to travel problems.]

Dr. Laughlin established the initial bylaws, created the logo, designed the lapel rosettes for Fellows, and set the tone of camaraderie and scholarship for the College.

Leo Madow, M.D., in his address as first President of the College (later published in the Fall 1989 Newsletter, 20 years later), summarized the 4 aims, objects, and purposes of the College as

  1. "providing professional leadership
  2. supporting the highest standards and practice of psychoanalysis
  3. providing a scientific forum for psychoanalytic subjects from the various theoretical points of view and schools of thought; and
  4. encouraging the acceptance, understanding, and constructive utilization of analytic concepts by an informed public."

All Presidents of the College since Leo Madow have encouraged our collegial gathering of scholarly-oriented psychoanalysts in a setting free from training demands and politics, an ethos that happily has persisted and continues to characterize the organization.