Salman Akhtar’s definition of humility:
Humility is often mentioned as 𝘢𝘯 important quality in a therapist, but given its impact on the other virtues, it might be 𝘵𝘩𝘦 most important quality in a therapist.
Psychoanalysis is the disciplined study of whatever it is the patient does not want to know about himself.
- Warren Poland
The desire to excel must be differentiated from the desire to be perfect.
- Glen Gabbard
A paper about making psychodynamic theory accessible is now accessible - free until October 24th
guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/...
Identity is important not because we are always the same - if we were, we would scarcely think about our identities…It is precisely because we can be so different in different contexts that we need to ask ourselves “who am I?”
- Paul Wachtel
For therapy to be therapeutic, it is more important for the clinician to understand people than to master specific treatment techniques…Unless one understands someone’s unique, personal subjectivity, one cannot infer the best treatment approach for that individual.
- Nancy McWilliams
"I suggest that psychoanalysis should be aware of their audience. As a member of that audience, I want to read material that helps me with clinical work." - Stephanie Foster @bitesizetherapy
"I suspect many clinicians read professional literature for enlightenment rather than for bewilderment: 'The difficulty should be in the practice, not in the language.' (Grossman, 2023)." - Stephanie Foster @bitesizetherapy
"Simple language need not mean simple concepts. The very last thing psychoanalysis should do is abandon complexity." - Stephanie Foster @bitesizetherapy
Westen (2002) discussed the importance of clear writing for assisting with clinical work. There is room for a more poetic style of writing, but I think the question is: Who is your audience? I don’t think clear language is a lesser form of psychoanalytic scholarship.
"Complex concepts may require complex language, but perhaps it is worth considering at what point complexity reads more like absurdity: 'Incomprehensibility is not a hallmark of good analytic writing.' (Grossman, 2023)" - Stephanie Foster @bitesizetherapy
"We are frequently instructed to meet the patient where they are; psychoanalysis might do well to apply this edict to their public communications." - Stephanie Foster @bitesizetherapy
The theoretical and clinical potency of psychoanalysis is out of sync with its flaccid public profile. We live in an era when depth therapy is under attack. Brilliance may not be enough; psychoanalysis needs to be heard and understood.
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“Not all long analyses imply stalemates. Some analyses are born long, some achieve longness, and some have longness thrust upon them. We can learn from every case, but no case can set the law explaining all others.”
- Warren Poland
I suspect that both our way of listening and our preference for theories are primarily consequences of our way of seeing ourselves. It may be true that theory shapes technique, but, to a far greater extent, character shapes theoretical preference.
- Lee Grossman
I'm procrastinating on writing a mashup of a chapter I wrote with a speech on a similar subject Nancy wrote. I can tell you that is not easy. What are your best writing tips for weaving someone else's brilliant ideas with your own?
The demand to “know” and intervene quickly interferes with receptive listening and observation. Without that, in-depth understanding and case formulation moves further out of reach. The irony is that trying to “know” quickly may prevent us from ever knowing at all.
Training new clinicians in the age of behavioral treatment and managed care is very challenging and disheartening.
I very much enjoy supervising young clinicians. I appreciate their passion and enthusiasm. It is very difficult, though, because the way in which I practice often seems fundamentally
This is such a horrible story. Apparently a paranoid man interacted with Chat GPT 4, which seemed to reinforce his paranoia, and he killed his mother and himself. So tragic. I fear there will be many more stories like this.
AI is here and people are using as their therapist, friend, romantic partner. The genie is out of the bottle. But, it's not too late to advocate for guardrails.
www.wsj.com/podcasts/the...
😂
If you're new to psychoanalytic ideas, which concepts are most confusing?
If you're new to psychoanalytic ideas, what authors do you like and why?
If you're not well versed in psychoanalytic ideas and you do clinical work regularly, what would you want to know about psychoanalysis? What questions do you have about it?
You are hilarious!
One of my consultees asked if we would be going on a book tour once the book is published. Nope. But, that sounds fun!
Thanks! I'm eager to get to the final version too.
You're very kind!
