PHANA Council Meeting August 21-22, 2003 Sevenoaks Pathwork Center, VA.

Present: California; Brooks Greene-Barton; California/Australia: Jan Rigsby; Canada: Roddy Duchesne (Coordinator); Georgia: Cynthia Schwartzberg; Mid-Atlantic: Carol Hunt (present in most sessions, but not in the meeting with the Trustees); Vermont: Sahra Aschenbach.

Present only for August 21, 8:30 to 9:45 am session, reported in Section 2 below:
International Pathwork Foundation; Sonia Gluckman, Catherine Karas, Lisa Willow.

Not present: Minnesota: Dottie Titus; New York: Donna Gray.

 

1.  Summary of Principal Decisions

1.1    Roddy will attend the North American Pathwork Leadership Meeting being arranged (see Section 2 below) in November in Philadelphia.  If possible, he will also meet with the Foundation Trustees. [Done: November meeting attended; teleconference with Trustees April 22, 2004]

1.2    Roddy will seek advice concerning the concerns (see Section 4 below) raised by Jac Conaway in his email of August 14 and will report back. [Done: Council email of Sep 3, 2003]

1.3    Roddy will incorporate agreed-upon revisions to the August 4, 2003 North American Pathwork Council document and will circulate it to PHANA Council in addition to Leadership Meeting participants. [Done]

1.4    Carol will keep Council informed concerning Helpers Advisory Group activities and decisions, and will circulate Helpers Advisory Group documents that she feels will be of interest to Council members. [Done: close HAG/PHANA Council cooperation with 3 PHANA Council members participating in HAG]

1.5    Roddy will prepare a version of PHANA Council accounts suitable for mounting on the PHANA website and will circulate this prior to mounting this information on the website. [Done: see Section 6 below]

1.6    Sahra will review the treatment of conflict resolution in PHANA’s proposed Code of Conduct and will report back to Council. [Done]

1.7    Roddy will discuss the situation of the Toronto Group with Sagewalker and report back to Council. [Done]

1.8    Council will seek new members willing to join the Council.  It will do this in two ways: direct approaches to individuals, and an email circular to the membership.  Roddy will draft an email and circulate it to Council for revision and approval.

1.9    Council approved the extension (in due course) of PTH services and PHANA membership to Trainees who have completed at least 2 years of their training.  A fee level of $40 was proposed.

1.10      Council discussed whether to extend PTH services and PHANA membership to Teacher Training Graduates.  Council found that it lacked information to come to a decision on this.  Jan volunteered to obtain further information and to report back with recommendations.  [Done: see decision in last paragraph of Section 9 below]

2.   Meeting with Foundation Trustees

 The principal purpose of this meeting with the Trustees was to take a rare opportunity to meet face to face.  Both PHANA Council and the Foundation Board have changed markedly since the last face to face Foundation Trustees/PHANA Council meeting in June 2000.  Only two people were present at both the June 2000 PHANA Foundation Trustees/PHANA Council meeting and the present meeting: Roddy Duchesne and Jan Rigsby.  The items which follow note specific points that were discussed in this meeting with the Trustees. 

International Pathwork Helper Association Arrangements

The Trustees outlined their thinking with respect to international Pathwork Helper arrangements.  They consider that it will work best if there are Pathwork Helper Associations (PHAs) corresponding to natural groupings in the world, possible a Brazilian PHA, a European PHA, in addition to PHANA as the North American PHA.  Eventually there may be an international PHA that functions somewhat as an association of associations. 

Roddy noted that this approach is very compatible with PHANA’s thinking since its inception.  For example, the March 2002 PHANA launch document envisages Helper associations being formed in other parts of the world, “creating a cooperating worldwide family of Helper Associations.”  

Possible Meeting at the 2004 International Conference in Brazil

Roddy suggested that it would be useful to have some discussion of Pathwork Helper Association matters at the 2004 International Conference.  The Trustees expressed interest in this idea and said that they would discuss it with Amanda.  Catherine suggested Brazilian, European and North American dialogue in preparation for any PHA-focused meeting at the International Conference.  Ana Maria would likely be able to suggest who best to dialogue with in Brazil.  The Dutch Foundation could suggest who best to dialogue with in Europe. 

Pathwork Teachers Helper Service 

Jan gave a brief description of Pathwork Teachers Helper (PTH), a service launched in July 2002.  The purpose of this service is to facilitate the sharing of teaching materials between Pathwork Helpers and teachers.  The service is being developed in phases.  The present phase involves building the database of English-language materials for sharing.  Until there is a reasonable database, PTH is more a project than a service.  The present building-the-database phase is being undertaken by and for PHANA members.  PHANA proposes to open the service worldwide in the next phase.  The Trustees felt that this was a good direction and said that they would discuss this with Amanda.

 Q&As 

Roddy noted that – as discussed at the October 2002 Foundation meeting – PHANA wishes to make electronic copies of Q&As available to PHANA members, and (preferably) more widely.  Any distribution necessarily waits until the copyright process is completed. 

PHANA’s thinking is based on previous discussions with the Foundation.  These discussions projected that the Q&As would be edited before they are distributed.  This implies that it could be quite some time before a definitive and searchable electronic version of the Q&As is produced and distributed.  In the meantime and prior to the availability of the fully edited and searchable version, it would be useful to Helpers to have access to an as-is electronic version.  PHANA would be willing to do the work of copying and distribution on CD of this limited-use version.  The market is necessarily limited for an as-is-and-no-search-engine version, because the nature of the Q&As is that they are unstructured and without titles, making it difficult to find text on particular topics.  It follows that the as-is version would not undercut the market for the later fully edited and searchable version.  Subject to agreement by the Foundation, PHANA would make available a CD of as-is Q&As to essentially the same worldwide clientele (Helpers and teachers) to which it seeks to make available its PTH and its web/desktop service offerings.  This would provide availability to this clientele of a limited-use version until such time as a definitive and searchable version could be offered worldwide by the Pathwork Press. 

PHANA 

We had a general discussion about PHANA, including membership numbers.  Roddy estimates the number of potential US/Canadian Pathwork Helper/Apprentice members at being in the range 90-100.  For a variety of reasons, it is unrealistic to think that all these potential members will ever join PHANA.  It is already an achievement to keep numbers in the high 50s or low 60s.  The addition of services such as PTH and the distribution of materials such as the Q&As offer a way to make PHANA more relevant to a wider clientele. 

The Trustees offered a number of suggestions, including that it is desirable and works best to use an “outreach” approach, rather than an “in-pull” approach.  They also pointed to advantages in moving beyond the “therapeutic model” of the Pathwork, widening membership and services to make them of interest to Helpers who are in various professions and not practicing Pathwork Helpership in the traditional one-on-one way. 

Possible Next Meeting 

In closing, Roddy noted that he plans to be at the projected November Philadelphia Leadership Meeting and would value meeting with the Trustees if this can be fitted in the schedule. 

A later discussion after the Trustees had left explored the possibility of a PHANA Council meeting in Philadelphia in November.  It appeared that not enough Council members would be able to be present to hold a Council meeting at that time. 

3.   Leadership and Helper Training Meetings 

Following the departure of the Trustees, the Council commenced with a review of the outcomes of the August 18-20 Leadership Meeting and Helper Training Meeting. 

Roddy reported on the Leadership Meeting.  Separate minutes are available for this meeting.  The most important decision of the Leadership Meeting was to proceed towards the creation of a North American Pathwork Council (NAPAC).  Following the agreement of minutes, the proposed next main steps are to (a) Revise the August 4 NAPAC proposal in the light of Leadership Meeting discussion.  This proposal will include a preliminary draft budget; (b) Hold a further and hopefully final planning meeting in Philadelphia in November.  Subject to scheduling possibilities, the meeting in Philadelphia will include a joint Foundation/North American leaders meeting. (c) Seek approval from Regional Boards and from Chapters for the setting up of NAPAC, including their commitment to provide the funds needed by NAPAC to operate. 

Carol reported on the Helper Training Meeting.  This meeting proved very useful in assisting interchange between the various Helper training programs.  Participants were in favor of meeting again.  Kathleen Goldberg undertook to set up a phone conference in October to plan what is to happen next.  Erena Bramos undertook to set up the next meeting, likely in Spring 2004.  Carol will keep PHANA Council informed concerning progress.

4.   PHANA’s Relationships with NAPAC and North American Regions 

The reports on the Leadership and Helper Training Meetings led naturally to a discussion of PHANA’s roles and how they relate to a North American Pathwork Council (NAPAC) and a North American Helpers Advisory Group, assuming the formation of both the latter entities. 

On its formation, NAPAC will take over the widest aspect of PHANA’s mission, stated in its 2000 mission statement as “to foster communication, cooperation and mutual understanding between and within all Pathwork Regions, Chapters and Groups.”  Once formed, the North American Helpers Advisory Group will take over a further role of PHANA, stated in its 2000 mission statement as to “Assist the maintenance of quality in Pathwork training programs in the US and Canada.”   The result of these transfers of roles is to free PHANA to concentrate on being a North American professional association for Pathwork Helpers, focusing more on activities and services of interest to individual Helpers. 

Discussion turned to the relationship of PHANA to NAPAC and to the projected Helpers Advisory Group.  For example, would PHANA and the Helpers Advisory Group both report to NAPAC once NAPAC is formed?   We noted that Jac Conaway had sent an email dated August 14 for PHANA Council’s consideration.  This email expressed NYRP reservations about NYRP being too closely associated with PHANA:

“I have been concerned about the legal ramifications of there being a formal connection between PHANA and NYRP.  Since many of the helpers on the list are not under our aegis and/or control, we do not want to be in the position of, in any way, appearing to endorse them or even recommend them.  In addition, since PHANA is, in effect, a trade organization of independent, entrepreneurial helpers, we want to be very careful not to ally NYRP with them in such a way that it would jeopardize our tax exempt charter.” 

We agreed that Jac’s concerns need study and legal advice.  Carolyn Tilove undertook in the Leadership Meeting to obtain advice and to pass it on.  We concluded that, depending on the outcome, PHANA might have either a looser or closer association with NAPAC, while always collaborating in areas of mutual interest.  Roddy will report back to Council when he hears back from Carolyn on this. [Done]
 

5.   Discussion of the August 4, 2003 NAPAC proposal 

The above discussion led into a review of the August 4, 2003, NAPAC proposal and the changes to this proposal advocated by the August 18-20 Leadership Meeting.  We went through the main sections of the document, mostly noting changes proposed by the Leadership Meeting. 

We noted the need for a proposed NAPAC budget to be incorporated into the version of the proposal that goes to Regional boards and to Chapters, with the purpose of seeking their approval and support for the formation of NAPAC. 

Jan proposed the following main expenditure categories for use in the budget proposal: Coordinator honorarium; Travel and accommodation; Communications (Telephone; Postage; Website Costs); Office supplies.

She proposed the following main revenue categories for use in the budget proposal: Regions and Chapter contributions; Donations; Conferences.

6.   Financial Accounts 

Roddy presented a preliminary version of PHANA’s accounts. 

These are summarized as follows for PHANA’s first 12 months of operation, starting May 1, 2002.  The two main lefthand columns record the official position, showing a surplus of $1106 for PHANA’s 12 months.  In fact, PHANA spent more than was charged to the PHANA accounts.  The additional expenditures are recorded in the right-hand column as “pro bono” indicating that they were not charged to the accounts.  The “pro bono” amount of $2247 was the cost of the Coordinator’s personal visits in this time period to each Region except Great Lakes.  The Coordinator paid $1497 of the $2247; the remaining $750 was donated by Council members and Pathwork Regions.  As can be seen below, PHANA would have gone into deficit of $1141 in its first 12 months of operation if these “pro bono” expenses had been charged to PHANA accounts. 

Revenue		Official Expenditures		Actual Expenditures Including Pro Bono Expenses
	$		$		$
Membership Fees	6225	Coordinator Honorarium	5000	Coordinator Honorarium	5000[1]
Donations	815	Other Expenses	934	Expenses Charged Officially	934
				Pro Bono Expenditures not charged to PHANA	2247
		Total Expenses	5934	Total Expenses	8181
		Revenue > Expenses:	1106	Revenue  > Expenses	(1141)
Total Revenue	7040		7040		7040

For the period May 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003 (14 months), figures were as follows: 

Revenue		Official Expenditures		Actual Expenditures Including Pro Bono Expenses
	$		$		$
Membership Fees	8350	Coordinator Honorarium	5833	Coordinator Honorarium	5833[2]
Donations	1580	Other Expenses	1132	Expenses Charged Officially	1132
				Pro Bono Expenditures not charged to PHANA	2247
		Total Expenses	6965	Total Expenses	9212
		Revenue > Expenses:	2965	Revenue  > Expenses	718
Total Revenue	9930		9930		9930

A number of points were made in discussion of the above figures: 

·      While PHANA books show a surplus of $2965 as at June 30, 2003, this surplus would have been very much smaller ($718) if pro bono expenses had been charged to PHANA books.

·      The effect of the pro bono expenses was to reduce the Coordinator’s stated honorarium.  When the accounts are presented on the website, the Coordinator’s net honorarium should be indicated.

·      Pro bono expenses should be italicized.

·      Web expenses not presently included in the accounts should be included.

7.   Conflict Resolution 

Register of Pathwork Helpers 

Roddy reviewed two situations which had occurred in which a Region had asked for a Helper to be removed from the Register of Pathwork Helpers.  We discussed these situations and concluded that we need an agreed-upon procedure for dealing with these sorts of cases.  Two elements for inclusion in this procedure are: 

·      Where a Region has received complaints about one of its Helpers who is in the PHANA Register, the Region should be asked to try to resolve matters directly with its Helper.

·      If the Region is unable to resolve matters with the Helper, it can submit a complaint to PHANA, which will then approach the Helper to obtain the Helper’s point of view.

·      PHANA Council will then try to arrange for some resolution. 

Other Conflict Situations 

The above discussion led on to consideration of when it is appropriate for PHANA to engage in conflict resolution.  Roddy noted PHANA’s present practice was to become involved when the situation involved a PHANA member or an individual who had applied for PHANA membership. 

He illustrated this with a specific case in which PHANA had no choice but to seek some resolution of tensions between a Region and an individual Helper, because the individual Helper had applied to join PHANA and either accepting or rejecting this individual raised significant issues for a number of existing PHANA members.  By contrast, PHANA did not become involved in another specific case because the individual Helper involved in the conflict with a Region was not a PHANA member and had not applied to join PHANA. 

Sahra noted the desirability of reviewing how the Code of Conduct treats conflict resolution and undertook to look into this and to report back to Council.

8.   Helper Training 

Council reviewed PHANA membership and Register of Pathwork Helper training requirements for Apprentice Helpers and Helpers.  Council identified two main options for completing necessary training: 

·       Entry into an existing Helper training program. 

This would be the most practical option for those wishing to qualify as soon as possible. 

·       Creation of a new Helper training program that could accept trainees wishing to join it.

This would involve submitting a proposal for a new program for consideration by the in-process-of-formation Helpers Advisory Group of NAPAC.
 

9.   Future Initiatives

PHANA Council 

Council reviewed some of the implications of the changes that would likely flow from the creation of NAPAC and the formation of an ongoing Helpers Advisory Group.  The conclusion of this discussion was that the time has come to seek new members on the PHANA Council. 

It was decided that Council should employ two parallel approaches: (1) Directly approach a number of individual PHANA members;  (2) Send an email to the PHANA membership inviting members to come forward to join the Council.  The email should include a brief description of what PHANA Council members do.  The task of drafting of this email was assigned to Roddy. 

Possible New Services 

A discussion followed concerning attracting new members.  A number of ideas were put forward for possible new member services.  These included (a) A Helpers Conference; (b) Professional liability insurance; (c) Health insurance; (d) An information package telling the recipient how to receive credit card payments. 

Trainee Membership 

Council discussed extending PTH service and PHANA membership to Trainees within North America.   Council favored this extension for Trainees who are in good standing and have completed at least 2 years of their training.  Since PHANA has little to offer Trainees in services, the timing of this extension would likely be dependent on when the PTH service is sufficiently developed for it to be useful for Trainees. 

The appropriate fee level for Trainees was discussed.  The current fee level for Apprentices is $60.  Apprentices qualify to be listed in the PHANA Register of Helpers while Trainees do not.  In addition, Apprentices can earn some money from their practices, while Trainees have heavy expenses and are not yet in a position to earn money from their practices.  Since PHANA has less services to offer to Trainees and Trainees generally have less ability to pay, it was proposed to set the fee level for Trainees below the fee level for Apprentices.  The figure of $40 was proposed. 

Teacher Training Graduates 

The question was asked: If PHANA extends PTH services and PHANA membership to Trainees, should it do the same for Teacher Training Graduates?  Council found that it lacked information to come to a decision on this.  Jan volunteered to obtain further information and to report back with recommendations. [A subsequent Council decision was made for making PTH services to Teacher Training Graduates.  If Teacher Training Program Directors consider that PTH should not be available to any of their graduates, we invite them to say this and will respect their wishes]

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[1] $3503 after deduction of Regional visit expenditures paid by the Coordinator.

[2] $4336 after deduction of Regional visit expenditures paid by the Coordinator.