History
A short history leading up to the formation of ATI
1956
Founding of STAT (Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique) in London.
1964
Founding of ACAT, The American Center for the Alexander Technique in New York.
1970-1971
Founding of ACAT West in San Francisco.
Early 1980s
The majority of teachers in the US were ACAT-trained or STAT-trained teachers.
Also by the early 1980s, various national AT societies had already been formed
1985
David Gorman, came up with the idea of forming a world-wide affiliated group of national societies which would all have a similar training “standard” and hence would all recognize each other’s teachers. However, the problem remained of what to do about the “non-traditionally” trained teachers.
1986–1987
David Mills suggests a certification system for the new organization allowing anyone who wanted to be certified by the organization to be evaluated by three senior teachers each of whom had to represent different training traditions.
1986
David Gorman officially establishes North American Society of teachers of the Alexander Technique (NASTAT).
Michael Frederick organizes the First International Congress of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, Stony Brook, NY, which is open to all teachers, regardless of training.
STAT votes to change its bylaws to recognize NASTAT and other national societies as equal “affiliates.” STAT no longer has responsibility for members or trainings in any of these affiliated countries, and all the affiliated societies take over responsibility for members and trainings in their own jurisdiction.
1987
All ACAT-trained teachers and STAT-trained teachers become members of NASTAT.
NASTAT holds its first official full membership meeting and votes in its first Board.
1988
Many non-traditionally-trained teachers apply to join NASTAT and some are accepted. Other non-traditionally-trained teachers do not join NASTAT and are still left feeling the need for an organization they can be part of. Among these will be the people who go on later to form ATI.
1988
2nd International Congress of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, Brighton, UK.
1991
3rd International Congress of Teachers of the Alexander Technique takes place in Engleberg, Switzerland.
THE FORMATION OF ATI
1991
Bruce Fertman, John Macy, Catherine Kettrick and David Mills talk about establishing an “alternative” teachers association at the 3rdInternational Congress. Meetings are later held in Philadelphia.
1992 Spring
Because the Commonwealth of Massachusetts wanted to license anyone who touched a client in the course of their work, and because NASTAT told the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that NASTAT was the only legitimate body of Alexander Technique teachers in the US, Tommy Thompson contacted John Macy and Claudia Vess by phone to see if they were still interested in starting an alternative Alexander Technique professional teaching organization.
Tommy, John and Claudia agree to move forward with Catherine Kettrick, David Mills, John Macy and Bruce Fertman to create a new society based on their previous meetings with other non-NASTAT teachers. A meeting to found a new society of teachers was set for May 1992.
1992 May
The founding meeting of ATI in Washington, DC. There are 28 people in attendance. Our vision/mission was:
- to continue the collegial spirit of the Congresses;
- to develop the profession of teaching the AT, in particular by defining what the AT was, how it was used, and developing a certification system that was qualitative rather than quantitative in nature;
- to explore the AT and research how it might interact with other disciplines; and
- to bring the AT into the world.
We decided that we would be an international organization, and Eckhart Schopf gave us our name, Alexander Technique International.
1992 Nov
ATI’s second meeting, held again in Washington DC. Membership: 59; approximately 30 people attend the AGM. We establish a Conference Committee and an ad hoc Ethics Committee.
1992–1993
Tommy Thompson and others talk up ATI on their teaching trips, with the result that members join from France, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Canada and Ireland.
1993 Nov
ATI’s third meeting, in Boston, Mass — Membership is 160; 66 people attend the AGM.
At this AGM, three members introduced a motion to amend the ATI bylaws to establish a system for certifying teachers. The members were deeply divided, with some members wanting to continue the process we had established at our first AGM, namely that the Professional Development Committee develop a means for certifying teachers. Other members wanted to have a certification process in place much sooner. The amendment passed, but only through the use of multiple proxies. ATI is deeply divided. Four of the five members of the Board resign immediately in protest and Tommy Thompson, as the only remaining Board member, appoints a new interim Board until the next AGM.
1994
The U.S. Dept. of Labor recognizes ATI as a society representing the profession of teaching the Alexander Technique. ATI also formally recognizes all the Affiliated Societies.
1994 Nov
AGM, Baltimore, Maryland — Membership is 180; 36 people attend the AGM. C.T. Butler presents a workshop on Formal Consensus. We establish an Ethics and Complaint Committee and an ad hoc committee to explore ATI’s decision-making process. The Board recommends and the members vote to make Marjorie Barstow an honorary member of ATI.
1995 Nov
AGM, Columbus, Ohio — Membership is 225;
1996 Nov
AGM, Phonecia, NY — Membership is 254. We establish an ad hoc committee to study how to make the sponsorship process more accessible and pass a motion to change our bylaws to adopt Formal Consensus as our decision-making process.
1997 Nov
AGM, Temenos, PA — Membership is 303; 38 people attend the AGM. We form the Formal Consensus Process Committee.
1998 Nov
AGM, Plymouth, MA — Membership is 311; 39 people attend the AGM. This year is ATI’s first Summit.
1999
First meetings held in the UK among ATI, STAT and ITM (Interactive Teaching Method) to discuss regulation of AT teachers. By 2001 PAAT (Professional Association of Alexander Teachers) had decided to join and the name of the group became the Alexander Technique Voluntary Self Regulation Group (ATVSRG).
1999 Nov
AGM, Seven Oaks, Madison, VA — Membership is 335; 30 people attend the AGM. Membership adopts a Code of Ethics, and commits to developing it further.
2000 Oct
AGM, Spanish Point, Ireland — Membership is 324; 43 people attend the AGM. This was our first non-US AGM. We increase the number of board members from five to seven.
2001 Oct
AGM, Spanish Point, Ireland — Membership is 287; 44 people attend. We consent to three proposals related to certification:
- of the 3 people who evaluate a candidate for certification, only one may be the candidate’s primary trainer;
- that the Sponsorship Committee draft a statement about the relationship between graduation from training programs and the ATI certification process; and
- no nominators for a potential sponsor may be a relative of the nominee, and only one person from the nominee’s training program may be a nominator.
2002 Nov
AGM, Bon Secours, MD — Membership is 318. We accept parts Two and Three of our Code of Professional Conduct.
2003 Oct
AGM, Spanish Point, Ireland — Membership is 336; 64 people attend. Teachers from Hungary come to their first AGM and become Teaching Members of ATI. We discuss at length a proposal from the Board (The Country Proposal) that arose out of concerns that members in different countries need to be able to respond more locally, and could we establish a membership system that takes into account the fact that some members pay dues to two organizations. We do not reach consensus on the proposal.
2004 Aug
AGM, Oxford, UK — Membership is 336; 34 people attend. We discuss and consent to several proposals:
- becoming an ATI teaching member is divided into two parts: a demonstration of knowledge (F.M.’s writings, anatomy and ethics) and a demonstration of teaching skills;
- sponsors are now required to be elected at an AGM or other ATI event, with a 60% majority;
- we change how ad hoc committees become standing committees;
- make the ad hoc committee on sponsorship a standing committee and change its name to Certification Coordinating Committee; and
- make the following bylaw changes:
A. establish an Ethics Advisory Committee;
B. require all teaching members to be certified; and
C. commit all ATI members to the PDC process (instead of all sponsors).
2005 Oct
AGM, Budapest, Hungary — No membership data available; 76 people attend. Our first meeting in Hungary. We have interpreters for the first time, and recognize many issues around language in ATI. We approve Part 2, Teacher-Teacher Relationship for our Code of Ethics.
2006 Nov
AGM, Scottsdale, AZ — Membership is 389; 52 people attend. For the first time we have a pre-day where the Board and committees meet before the AGM starts.
2007 Oct
AGM, Spanish Point, Ireland — Membership is 430; 70 people attend. We revise our Vision/Mission statement; we consent to two proposals from the International Committee, one stating that ATI resolves to explore all conceivable ways to become a genuine multilingual and multicultural organization; the second to allocate money for translations of ATI documents; we consent to a list of requirements and recommendations for anyone who wants to become a sponsor.
2008 Aug
AGM, Lugano, Switzerland — Membership is 434; 38 people attend. We revise how we elect sponsors and completely revise our bylaws.
2009 Oct
AGM, Cape Cod, MA — Membership is 550; 50 people attend. It is ATI’s second summit.
2010 Oct
AGM, Madrid, Spain – Membership is 449; 49 people attend. For the first time the pre-day is an opportunity for ATI Teaching Certificate Candidates to go through the Evaluation Process to become a Certified ATI Teacher. The membership passes and adds a fourth bullet point to the ATI Mission Statement: To provide a means for recognizing Alexander Technique Teacher competence and providing certification for those teachers who qualify.
2011 Oct
AGM, Boulder, CO, USA – Membership is 422; 57 people attend. Pre-day activities continue and become popular for ATI Teaching Certificate Candidates. A Proposal to change wording from Sponsor to Evaluator was not adopted, but was sent back to the group that submitted the proposal.
2012 Oct
AGM, Papenburg, Germany – Membership 380, 80 people attend. The Pre-day is a great success: 17 Candidates meet 6 Sponsors for their Certification Process Sessions. The discussion on change of wording from “Sponsor” to “Evaluator” is continued. The word “Evaluator” receives mixed reviews, and we get alternative wordings, which reflect the advisory and guiding character of Sponsors (“ATI Certifying Sponsor,” “Advisor,” and “Guide”).
2013 March
The Vision/Mission Committee in cooperation with the CCC proposes a language change for the title “Sponsor” to “ATI Sponsor.” This means that “Sponsor” is now defined through ATI rather than having multiple definitions based off of individuals backgrounds. The certification process itself will be called ATI Certification Process. The Board approves this change.
2013 Oct
AGM, Toronto, Canada – Membership is 435; 58 people attend. The Membership adopts the Vision/Mission Committee Proposal to add the word “professional” to our Vision/Mission Statement: Alexander Technique International (ATI) is a world-wide professional organization created to promote and advance the work begun by F. Matthias Alexander.
2014
The Board made the decision to change the name of the AGM to ATI Annual Conference, the reasoning being that the meeting has grown from being a business meeting to a place to learn and exchange work inviting all Alexander Technique Teachers.
2014 Oct
Annual Conference, Bordeaux, France – Membership is 395; 65 people attend. The membership votes to form a standing Committee for Continuing Education (Continuing Education Committee or CEC), which will be responsible going forward for designing a policy to provide the members with a means of recording Continuing Education practices with official recognition by ATI.
2015 Oct
Annual Conference, Philadelphia, USA – Membership is 415; 81 people attend. A bylaw amendment is passed that allows a Board Chair hold a previous Board position.
2016 Oct
Annual Conference, London/Ardingly College, UK – Membership is 406; 83 people attend. ATI votes to establish a set fee for the ATI Certification Process, and to allow for transparent professional payments to ATI Sponsor and to cover administrative costs for the ATI office.
2017
Annual Conference at Islandwood, Seattle, WA
Two policy proposals were adopted concerning Continuing Education and Demonstration of Knowledge; and the wording of a bylaw amendment was revised for consideration in 2018.
2018
ACGM in Kyoto, Japan
Two items were considered: that Ethics Scenarios be put on Member Pages instead of public pages; and there was a bylaw amendment on Parliamentary Authority.
2019
Hotel Woodstock, Ennis, County Clare, Ireland
Items discussed were CCC policy regarding requirements for ATI Sponsors and members of Ethics Advisory Committee.
2020
The first totally virtual ACGM October 15-19.
Discussion regarding the content of anatomy for ATI certification.
2021
Totally virtual ACGM October 18-22.
EAC proposal accepted to remove a final appeal to the membership from the complaint procedure. Final appeal will be to the Board of Directors. This came from a concern for privacy of involved parties.
ATI Charter Members:
Debi Adams
Barbara Alexander
Jan Baty
Diana Bradley
Barbara Chang
Jano Cohen
Jamee Culbertson
Suzanne Faulkner
Bruce Fertman
Peter Grant
David Gregory
Margaret (Peg) Gummere
Richard Gummere
Joel Kendall
Catherine Kettrick
Robert Lada
Lynn Liotta
John Macy
Catherine Madden
Eliza Malouk
Patricia Nicholson
Eckart Schopf
Constance Southerly
Robin Spiegal
Tommy Thompson
Dorrit Vered
Claudia Vess
Karel Weissberg
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