Psychologist– Official Publication of Division 39 of the American Psychoanalyst Psychological Association Volume XXV, No.2 Spring 2005 FROM THE PRESIDENT: SAY EVERYTHING David Ramirez, PhD o Es war, soll Ich warden. Where id was, there ego the bedrock beginning for the apprentice psychotherapist, Wshall be. Does psychoanalysis have a motto? If it as important as competence with formal assessment and did, would this be it? These have been words to ponder and knowledge of the DSM. to reference in theoretical papers since written by Freud Despite the cliché “easier said than done,” many of us in 1933, comprising a lexigraphic distillation of what was were taught to listen in ways that recognized listening to be generally considered the aim of the psychoanalytic pro- a special skill requisite to facilitating talk, to saying every- cess. Throughout the twentieth century, these words were thing. We came to understand just how hard this “saying” considered both literally and figuratively as a kind of core is, and that in fact, when it comes to the experience of emo- coda to many psychoanalytic concepts. Where id was, there tion, it is actually much easier to do, to act, than to say. Lis- ego shall be. More koan than motto, psychoanalysis, with tening well as patients struggle to express the difficulties of its combination of mysterious concepts and idealistic out- living and understanding was valued as the psychoanalytic comes, had a little something for everyone. clinician’s strong suit. Key to this transformation of id to ego are the words Today, graduate clinical training is marked by an that constitute the dictate to the subject of analytic therapy: emphasis on activity by the therapist, demonstrated by the “Say everything.” Now there’s a motto! Short and to the phenomenon tagged as “manualized treatments.” These point. Like the Boy Scout mantra “Be Prepared,” the words protocols of therapist activity are predicated on the notion suggest a course of action that few could disagree with. As that the patient is constituted by symptoms that are already a motto, these two words capture the beguiling simplicity well known to the therapist. Symptoms are conceptualized of psychoanalytic psychotherapy as well as its most chal- functionally with little or no consideration of potential per- lenging technical dilemma. sonal meaningfulness. In this paradigm, listening serves a Instructing a patient to say everything is to invite a superficial function, a means of identifying and cataloguing leap of faith into a process where talking becomes a cata- clinically prefabricated targets. lyst for change. Those of us who work this way, whose My clinical training was too long ago to have first ultimate irreducible standard for therapeutic progress is the hand knowledge of today’s training schemes. I have come progressive unfolding of the patient’s struggle with saying to know about these protocols from graduate students who everything, face a daunting scholarly dilemma: how do seek out Swarthmore College’s counseling center as a place we communicate the experience we have with the pallia- to train. While the analyst’s motto might be “say every- tive and transformational power of verbal expression in an thing,” the motto of today’s graduate school training could action oriented world? Can listening really trump instruc- be “actions speak louder than words.” tion manuals? There’s nothing inherently wrong with action, of During this, the 25th anniversary of the Division of course, but the students who come to us do so because Psychoanalysis, whose theme for its Spring Meeting was they believe that there must be more to therapy than giving Being and Becoming, the question of the adequacy of people instructions. It has been interesting to learn that talking and listening loom large in mainstream clinical locally there is an “underground” information network psychology. For those of us trained before the mid-1980s, students are plugged into identifying sites where psycho- a book on clinical technique like Listening as a Way of dynamic therapy is still practiced. Training and supervision Becoming, might have been standard fare. The development at these sites is highly sought after. I suspect this is true of an “evenly hovering” attentive focus was considered throughout the country. Certainly, we see plenty of gradu- 2 Psychologist-Psychoanalyst Spring 2005 GUIDELINES FOR SUBMITTING MATERIAL ate student members in the division and many more in its local chapters who are Submissions, including references, need to be in getting “bootleg” instruction in psychoanalytic thought and treatment. APA style. Email your submission in an attached It is as though therapy organized around listening and facilitating the Word or WordPerfect file to the Editor. If you do not patient’s talking is becoming a lost art, no longer readily available in mainstream have attached file capabilities, mail the disc to the graduate education. This may be an overstatement, but if so, certainly not by Editor. Hard copies are not needed. Please write much. In any event, Division 39, and its component subgroups, finds itself in an one or two sentences about yourself for placement opportune position to assist the rising generation of practitioners and scholars at the end of the article and indicate what address in psychology and social work and to hold a place for the value and efficacy of information you would like published. Submis- analytic listening. sions should be no longer than 2500 words. Having begun the next quarter century, Division 39 finds itself challenged All materials are subject to editing at the to meet the needs of those who would practice talk therapy, those who wish discretion of the Editor. Unless otherwise stated, learn just how it is that one gets to the point where one can “say everything.” As the views expressed by the authors are those of the dues-paying members of the division, you tangibly contribute to the continua- authors and do not reflect official policy of the Divi- sion of Psychoanalysis. Priority is given to articles tion of the ongoing projects of psychoanalytic psychology. These projects and that are original and have not been submitted for initiatives include: publication elsewhere. • Dues for graduate student members are $15 and students also receive a ADVERTISING reduced registration fee for the Spring Meeting. Louis Rothschild and Psychologist-Psychoanalyst accepts advertising from professional groups, educational and train- the Membership Committee are actively surveying local chapters to ing programs, publishers, etc. Ad copy must be in determine how to better help students become and remain involved in camera-ready form and correct size. Rates and size psychoanalytic work. requirements are: $400 full page 7 1/2” x 9 1/8"; • Sera Morelli, Jonathan Slavin, and the rest of the Graduate Student $250 half page 7 1/2” x 4 1/2"; $150 quarter page Committee carry forward the wide array of initiatives and educational 3” x 4 1/2". Checks should be made payable to Divi- programs that showcase student work and promote access to resources sion 39 and mailed along with camera-ready copy. and mentors DEADLINES • David Downing, Martha Hadley and the other members of the Educa- Deadline for all submissions is January 1, April 1, tion and Training Committee are surveying APPIC internship sites to July 1 or October 1. Issues generally appear 5-6 identify and report pre-doctoral and post-doctoral clinical training that weeks after deadline date. includes psychodynamic approaches. COPYRIGHT POLICY • Marilyn Charles and Winnie Eng co-chair a new Task Force on Early Except for announcements and event schedules, Career Psychologist/Psychoanalysts, with the aim of identifying ways material in Psychologist-Psychoanalyst is copyrighted the Division can help promote the development of early career academ- and can only be reproduced with permission of the ics and clinicians. Another charge of the task force is to identify orga- Publications Committee. nizational barriers that inhibit membership in Division 39 by psycholo- EDITOR gists and social workers in the first seven years of their postgraduate WILLIAM A. MACGILLIVRAY professional careers. 7 FOREST COURT, KNOXVILLE, TN 37919 • Other committees and all of the Sections in the division are actively PHONE AND FAX: 865-584-8400 engaging and involving graduate students, including providing stipends EMAIL: [email protected] to assist graduate students to attend Division 39 Spring Meetings and awards to support and promote psychoanalytic scholarship. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE Nancy McWilliams, Chair We are listening now to what the coming generations of analysts need. Freud Ricardo Ainslie insisted "the business of the analysis is to secure the best possible psychologi- Mary Gail Frawley O’Dea cal conditions for the functions of the ego; with that it has discharged its task" Silvia Gosnell (Freud, 1937, p. 250). Twenty-five years into our existence as an organization, Frank Lachmann we believe that the business of the Division of Psychoanalysis is to engender Martin Manosevitz, ex officio and protect the best possible conditions for its members to ply their craft, be it Karen Maroda research, scholarship, practice, education, or social change. Joseph Reppen, ex officio David Ramirez, ex officio REFERENCES Arnold Schneider, ex officio Freud, S. (1933). New introductory lectures on psycho-analysis. Standard Edition, 22:3-182. Martin Schulman Freud, S. (1937). Analysis terminable and interminable. Standard Edition, 23:211-253. Psychologist-Psychoanalyst 3 Division of Psychoanalysis (39) 26th Annual Spring Meeting Love,Love, DesireDesire && Passions:Passions: April 19 – 23, 2006 Variety,Variety, Loews Philadelphia Hotel Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Keynote Speakers: Enigma,Enigma, Jody Messler Davies, Ph.D. Ken Corbett, Ph.D. andand thethe Conference Co-Chairs: Dennis Debiak, Psy.D. Noelle Burton, Psy.D. DisruptionDisruption ofof PsychoanalysisPsychoanalysis 4 Psychologist-Psychoanalyst Spring 2005 FROM THE EDITOR WILLIAM A. MACGILLIVRAY, PHD his issue is not quite the last of my tenure as editor.