I am seeing "DPA" and "Alliance" used interchangeably in board discussions, emails, and documents. I was also using both terms, alternating between the two simply for variety. Then, Bonnie called me on it. While very nice about it, she drew from her specialized experience in marketing and advertising to educate me on how Alliance (Al-li-ance) and DPA (D-P-A) are both three syllabels, but that Alliance is a much stronger brand. For one thing, it conjures imagery. She had other rationale as well, which I don't recall. What she said, however, made sense, and I want to follow her expertise. I've retired my shorthand use of DPA.
Bonnie said that she's tried to make this point on a number of occasions with the board, but we're still using DPA. My concern is the more comfortable we get with DPA, the harder it will be to shift gears down the road when it really counts.
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I'll admit, I struggle with using "Alliance" vs DPA. When I write DPA, I am seeing/hearing "Depth Psychology Alliance" in my mind. The Alliance feels like something that pulls me somewhere else (like an generalized affiliation or cause).
That said, I'll defer to what Bonnie wants us to use.
Thanks for sharing, Donna. I know it's obvious to all of us who are already familiar with the organization, or even hopefully for people who know what "depth psychology" is. "Alliance" at least generates an image of people working together. I'm still for "Alliance" in the sense that it's still less generic in many ways than "DPA"
I googled DPA just now and got the following list of orgs that go by "DPA"--it gave me a good laugh as I located the ones that stuck out for me; maybe it will do the same for you all:
Thank you for the clarification Dorene. "Alliance" it is! Aptly so.
Thanks for bringing it up.