The following was written by Elisabeth Zinschitz and was originally contained in an e-mail sent to the CCT/PCA list server. Whilst it is not quite complete, it give valuable background about the formation of the WAPCCP.

Historical development

July 1996 on the World Conference on Psychotherapy the PCA was not as well represented as it could have been. This lead to discussions on an informal meeting of 30 people in Bad Hall in Austria.

After this meeting a letter was sent to several international cct/pca associations and to this network (see the copy I am sending to the network). People were asked to spread the information and to send reactions before April 1997. It mentioned the intention to found such an organization in Lisbon in July 1997.

The topic was announced again as part of the program of the conference to all people who had registered for the V ICCCEP in Lisbon. In Lisbon there were two evenings where the topic was discussed intensely and a decision was made to form a core group of a few people who would work out a proposal of statutes and structures which could then be presented at the IV Conference in Chicago in the year 2000. There was a working group of about 15 members who would look at possibilities for a Journal and other things that would come up. I do not remember all the names of the people involved, but I know that there were some Europeans, Americans, Australians and Japanese involved. Representatives of as many continents as possible would be more than welcome. People were also asked to propose persons who were not present.

As nobody has the money to go traveling around the world it was decided to work through e-mail, faxes and telephone.

A first Board would only be chosen in 2000 in Chicago after the ratification of the proposals of the core group.

Elisabeth

(Members of the Organising Group & the Provisional Board can be found on my "Feedback" page).

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