Psychotherapy Leadership | Caroline Sehon MD

I am currently a candidate for the APsA February 2026 Election: President-Elect

Nominated by the Nominations Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors

CAROLINE M. SEHON, MD, FRCP(C), FABP

APsA stands at a critical juncture. To thrive, we need new leaders to unify and diversify analytic communities, spearhead change, and leverage technology in the online age. My candidacy is grounded in this experience and a commitment to our shared future. My leadership as APsA Secretary, Executive Director of the International Psychotherapy Institute (IPI), and (past) Chair of IPI’s International Institute for Psychoanalytic Training equips me to understand organizational dynamics and foster dialogue. My online training expertise is essential to support APsA’s opportunity to demonstrate teleanalytic training effectiveness within IPA's 5-year timeframe.

If elected to the office of President-Elect, my priorities will be:

Revitalizing APsA with New Leadership: APsA and its institutes need solutions to our profound succession challenges. We need to cultivate new local and national leaders. I will provide early-career professionals with opportunities to shape APsA’s future through governance, mentorship, and leadership pathways. New leadership is vital for innovation and generational growth. As IPI Director, I introduced an Associate Faculty category, which now comprises 25% of faculty and supports a pipeline of leaders. My experience as a supervising child and adult analyst gives me a valuable perspective on the importance of mentorship and diverse career pathways within APsA.
Achieving Inclusivity: I will address the emotional impact of recent organizational upheaval and promote integration of our expanded membership. My commitment to inclusivity is informed by my experience in APsA governance (as Secretary and Executive Committee Director during organizational crises), leadership in committees focused on community and social issues (chairing the Psychoanalysis in the Community Committee), and community psychoanalytic work addressing atrocities in Ukraine (work awarded Second Prize in the Psychoanalytic Assistance in Emergencies and Crises Committee category of the IPA in the Community and the World Awards). We will build an APsA that hears and values every member, overcoming exclusion and othering.
Fostering Constructive Dialogue: To bridge APsA’s polarizations (fueled by anxieties evident in listserv debates), I will facilitate respectful engagement through town halls and other community forums. As IPI Director, I have forged a commitment to cultural sensitivity and humility and have led over 180 global town hall conversations from entrenched, polarized positions into deeper understanding. This expertise in facilitating dialogue and strengthening community engagement equip me to lead challenging conversations.
Leveraging Technology: As a new IPA Component Society, APsA has a 5-year window of opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of online training following the recent loss of our Regional Association status. I will leverage my expertise in teleanalysis and online teaching, developing innovative virtual programs, organizing hybrid international conferences, and chairing the International Teleanalysis Clinical Research Group. I will promote technology to foster connection and accessibility within APsA and the broader analytic community, to strengthen ties with the IPA, and to build a membership with greater ethnic, LGBTQIA+, and intersectional diversity.

I commit to leading APsA into a thriving future. I welcome your ideas, concerns, and questions at apsa-electiondiscussion@connectedcommunity.org or CarolineSehon@gmail.com. To explore my positions, projects, and leadership experience, please visit CarolineSehonMD.org.

Drive Innovation and Growth in APsA: APsA and its institutes need solutions to our profound succession challenges. We need to cultivate new local and national leaders. I will provide early-career professionals with opportunities to shape APsA’s future through governance, mentorship, and leadership pathways. New leadership is vital for innovation and generational growth. As IPI Director, I introduced an Associate Faculty category, which now comprises 25% of faculty and supports a pipeline of leaders. My experience as a supervising child and adult analyst gives me a valuable perspective on the importance of mentorship and diverse career pathways within APsA.

Champion Inclusivity: I will address the emotional impact of recent organizational upheaval and promote integration of our expanded membership. My commitment to inclusivity is informed by my experience in APsA governance (as Secretary and Executive Committee Director during organizational crises), leadership in committees focused on community and social issues (chairing the Psychoanalysis in the Community Committee), and community psychoanalytic work addressing atrocities in Ukraine (work awarded Second Prize in the Psychoanalytic Assistance in Emergencies and Crises Committee category of the IPA in the Community and the World Awards). We will build an APsA that hears and values every member, overcoming exclusion and othering.

Foster Constructive Dialogue: To bridge APsA’s polarizations (fueled by anxieties evident in listserv debates), I will facilitate respectful engagement through town halls and other community forums. As IPI Director, I have forged a commitment to cultural sensitivity and humility and have led over 180 global town hall conversations from entrenched, polarized positions into deeper understanding. This expertise in facilitating dialogue and strengthening community engagement equip me to lead challenging conversations.

Harness Technology for Advancement: As a new IPA Component Society, APsA has a 5-year window of opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of online training following the recent loss of our Regional Association status. I will leverage my expertise in teleanalysis and online teaching, developing innovative virtual programs, organizing hybrid international conferences, and chairing the International Teleanalysis Clinical Research Group. I will promote technology to foster connection and accessibility within APsA and the broader analytic community, to strengthen ties with the IPA, and to build a membership with greater ethnic, LGBTQIA+, and intersectional diversity.

From the start of my training, I was shaped by the conviction that psychoanalytic work must be grounded in listening — deeply, sensitively, and with openness to the cultural and personal stories that shape each individual. This conviction has guided me through intersecting paths as a child and adult psychiatrist, child and adult psychoanalyst, and organizational leader. My career has always sought to bridge individual treatment with broader community and societal contexts. Whether leading national associations, editing Echoes of Childhood, directing an institute, or developing humanitarian projects in times of crisis, I have sought to build communities that foster resilience and inclusivity. These experiences now lead me to seek the president-elect of APsA, where I will bring this listening stance to shaping our collective future.

Throughout my career, I have moved between clinical practice, organizational leadership, and community engagement — each strengthening the other. As a child and adult psychiatrist and supervising child and adult analyst, I carry a developmental perspective into my work with patients and trainees. In APsA, as Secretary and Executive Committee Director, I have helped guide our Association through times of challenge and change. As director of a 336-member institute that regularly reaches more than 55,000 colleagues worldwide through its global listserv, I have fostered growth and built pathways for emerging leaders. Through my academic appointments and editorial work, I have advanced scholarship, while internationally, I have led community-based and humanitarian projects recognized by the IPA.

These intersecting experiences equip me to bridge tradition and innovation, clinical practice and social context,

local institutes and global networks — the kind of leadership APsA needs.

APsA Candidacy

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Candidate for President-Elect,

American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA)

Caroline Sehon, A Passionate Leader

A Message from Caroline Sehon