Status: U
Subject: Your email
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 11:24:13 -0400
Thread-Topic: Your email
From: "Farberman, Rhea K." rfarberman@apa.org
To: (Deleted)
Thank you for you recent email to our "Ask the
President" email feature. APA President, Dr. Diane Halpern, asked
that I reply to you directly concerning Dr. Lois Holzman's
participation in our upcoming convention. As you point out in your
email, concerns about Dr. Holzman's participation in our 2003
convention in Toronto were brought to our attention last year.
Because of these concerns, members of APA's senior staff researched Dr. Holzman's work and her participation in earlier APA meetings.
Senior staff also attended each of her 2003 presentations. While it
is fair to say that some of the content of these presentations was
unorthodox it was not, in the judgment of our senior staff,
offensive or inappropriate for the APA convention. The APA
convention is designed to present a wide array of topics. Dr.
Holzman was invited to speak by an APA Division. We have not found any basis upon which to override that invitation.
We have also visited the "former patients" website you mentioned
and are familiar with the accusations of anti-Semitism against Fred
Newman. Fred Newman is not a participant in the APA convention.
While APA in no way endorses boundary violations with patients or
anti-Semitism, we have seen no evidence that Dr. Holzman espouses
either. We therefore must support Dr. Holzman's opportunity to
participate in our convention
Thank you for contacting APA about your concerns.
Rhea Farberman
Rhea K. Farberman, APR
Executive Director, Public and Member Communications
American Psychological Association
(202) 336-5709
RFarberman@apa.org
www.apa.org