APRIL 2008
by Hans TenDam
Dear fellow-members:
Elsewhere in this Newsletter you will find the results of the Member Survey, as tabulated and analyzed by Anita Groenendijk. The first element we as a Board have concluded from this, is the wish to have meetings between colleagues of the same country or region. Ulrich Kramer is involved in starting a German page in our website, which may become the meeting point for members in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Sueli Simões will contact the Portuguese members, Anita Groenendijk will contact the Dutch members and Tulin Etyemez the Turkish members. We will procure contact persons in other countries to sound the need for more local contacts, by mail, by Skype meetings or in the flesh.
The Code of Conduct has been voted upon and has been accepted almost unanimously. It will become available at the website. New members will be asked to sign and send a copy to the secretariat before admittance. Existing members are asked to print the Code and send also a copy to the Secretariat. You have till May 15 to do that.
A si
gned Code of Conduct and a complaint procedure help in getting a liability insurance for those members who wish that. Andy Tomlinson has found a possibility for members in the UK and Ireland and we will procure options for the rest of our membership.
The Board is finishing work on a proposal by the Membership Committee for the admission of new members. It will be discussed and voted upon at the General Assembly in August, as part of our Bylaws. In the meantime, the membership committee will work with the proposed procedure and get practical experience with it. As soon as the Board is ready, it will be sent to the members.
We suggest that members who hold lectures, do workshops or are publishing books and articles, send their information to Yasemin Tokatli so she can put them on the Intranet and both members and student members can read about them.
We will produce a simple 1-page flyer about EARTh that refers to the website that members can download and use as handouts whenever they think it is useful.
We will also produce a certificate of membership that, properly signed, can adorn the wall of your room to impress clients (and yourself). We have to discuss the design and the period of validity. It may be that we will ask a modest price for that. As soon as it is available, we will let you know.
The next item on our agenda is the relationship to national associations, both inside and outside Europe. We want to contact the associations that have approached us since last Summer School this month. The main issue is to maintain quality assurance while growing. Next on our agenda are the recognition criteria and the recognistion procedure for schools. We hope to finish those in May. Then we have to develop the procedures for prolongation of membership, prolongation of affiliation and prolongation of school recognition. All these will be part of the bylaws. Some proposals will be before you to vote on the internet, but the most essential we want to put to the vote at the General Assembly.
The General Assembly. The Summer School. Quinta da Calma. Algarve. Portugal. Don’t forget the summer! Don’t forget to register! Accommodation is limited and the early bird discount is over before you know it.
Next time I want to talk again more general, more philosophical if you want, about our field. Regression therapy, that strange animal. And, by the way, we passed 100, the magical number, on our membership list!
Hans TenDam
