Candidates for Area 2 Trustee: Jack Drescher, M.D.

I am a psychiatrist in private practice and an independent scholar. Due to a confluence of interests, I have frequently been a psychiatric spokesperson on mental health and psychological issues of interest to the general public. I've been interviewed and quoted for print, television, radio, and Internet media outlets locally, nationally, and overseas. I believe psychiatrists should engage with the public, defining ourselves and what we do rather than having ourselves defined by others. While not always an easy task, as your Area 2 trustee, I will bring to APA's Board a high degree of enthusiasm, much energy for creative work, and a continued focus on outreach to our members and the public.

I am a distinguished fellow of APA and have worked within APA governance at the district branch, Area 2, and national levels. In the New York County DB, I served on the Committee on Ethics, served as secretary for four years and then as DB president (2000-2001). Currently I serve as the DB's newsletter co-editor. Within Area 2, I was an associate editor of the NYSPA Bulletin and have served on NYSPA task forces.

At the national level, I was a member of APA's Committee on Abuse of Psychiatry and Psychiatrists. I was chair of APA's Committee on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues and a member of the Council on Minority Mental Health and Mental Health Disparities from 2000-2006. From 2006-2008, I served as a consultant to APA's Committee on Public Affairs and continue to serve APA in the capacity of media spokesperson regarding APA policies. I have been a member of the DSM-5 Work Group on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders since 2008.

My scholarly work includes an authored textbook, 20 edited volumes, chapters in major psychiatric textbooks, and publications in peer-reviewed journals. For 10 years I was editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health and currently serve as that journal's emeritus editor.

I am president-elect of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, a psychiatric think tank. I am a member of the AMA, the Medical Society of the State of New York, and the N.Y. County Medical Society. I am also a member of the American College of Psychiatrists, the New York Academy of Medicine, the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, and the International Academy of Sex Research. I am fellow and past trustee of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry and have served as a board member of the Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education. I teach at two psychoanalytic institutes in New York City.

There are many issues we face as psychiatrists, and space limitations do not allow me to address them in this particular venue. Whatever the tasks we face in the near future, I have a capacity for hard work and getting the job done. As Area 2 trustee, I will bring those qualities to the APA Board, where I hope to represent the needs of our patients, our members, and our profession.