This is a place to hold Psychoanalytic Conversations. This blog grew out of meetings held at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute and was created to make a conversational space.
What an opportunity to open the door to an analyst’s office! The relationship between an analyst and patient is so protected that the word patient sometimes acquires the more distanced and mercantile nuance of client. The topics that this blog, I hope, begin to analyze, pardon me, should begin with the benefits of talking about oneself. Most of us, like the prophet in one’s hometown, do not take our own experiences as being very important or significant, excepting the more obvious influences on our lives: a high school teacher, first boss, a parent. And those few are usually anecdotes rather than descriptors of a more pervasive and longer lasting impact. When we reach what Malcolm Gladwell has popularized as ‘the tipping point,’ we often are unable to distinguish why we feel so badly. Our culture retains a residual disdain for ‘personal weakness,’ and that includes seeking help to alleviate emotional burdens. The sufferer who reaches a limit or realizes a form of incapacitation usually has two choices. A prescription or a form of talk therapy. Or both. And that’s what I’d like to hear analysts discuss. The so called desire for a ‘magic bullet.’ Is there an advantage to digging into one’s self, in addition to filling a prescription for immobilizing depression and anxiety? Is guided self-awareness worth the effort?
Is learning about oneself a gift or a penalty?
I’d like discussions to include topics that our community must wrestle with. Bullying in schools is, well, topical. Another is offering the many forms of therapy to a wider audience, including balancing the cost both in cash and time spent as deterrents keeping the larger community from experiencing the benefits.
An analyst’s presentation to the Institute’s Board of Directors suggests a more general blog discussion. That topic: “How will I know when I’m done?”
What an opportunity to open the door to an analyst’s office! The relationship between an analyst and patient is so protected that the word patient sometimes acquires the more distanced and mercantile nuance of client. The topics that this blog, I hope, begin to analyze, pardon me, should begin with the benefits of talking about oneself. Most of us, like the prophet in one’s hometown, do not take our own experiences as being very important or significant, excepting the more obvious influences on our lives: a high school teacher, first boss, a parent. And those few are usually anecdotes rather than descriptors of a more pervasive and longer lasting impact. When we reach what Malcolm Gladwell has popularized as ‘the tipping point,’ we often are unable to distinguish why we feel so badly. Our culture retains a residual disdain for ‘personal weakness,’ and that includes seeking help to alleviate emotional burdens. The sufferer who reaches a limit or realizes a form of incapacitation usually has two choices. A prescription or a form of talk therapy. Or both. And that’s what I’d like to hear analysts discuss. The so called desire for a ‘magic bullet.’ Is there an advantage to digging into one’s self, in addition to filling a prescription for immobilizing depression and anxiety? Is guided self-awareness worth the effort?
ReplyDeleteIs learning about oneself a gift or a penalty?
I’d like discussions to include topics that our community must wrestle with. Bullying in schools is, well, topical. Another is offering the many forms of therapy to a wider audience, including balancing the cost both in cash and time spent as deterrents keeping the larger community from experiencing the benefits.
An analyst’s presentation to the Institute’s Board of Directors suggests a more general blog discussion. That topic: “How will I know when I’m done?”