30 METHODS TO DESTROY THE CREATIVITY OF PSYCHOANALYTIC CANDIDATES

The author explores formal aspects of psychoanalytic education relevan t to the fostering or inhibiting of creativity in the work of candidat es. He refers to thirty features of psychoanalytic institutes that inh ibit candidates':creativity and, by implication, illustrate problems i n psychoanalytic education that require our attention. These features include systematic slowing clown of institutional progression of candi dates, repetitive and unquestioning teaching of key papers by Freud, m onolithic tendencies regarding theoretical approaches, isolation of ca ndidates from the professional and scientific activities of the psycho analytic society, accentuation of the hieratical relations among the p sychoanalytic faculty, graduation rituals, discouragement of original contributions by candidates, intellectual isolation of institutes, lac k of full presentation of clinical work by senior members of the facul ty, neglect of studies of controversies regarding psychoanalytic techn ique, 'paranoiagenic' features of the relationship among faculty and r egarding requirements for candidates, the 'convoy' system, neglect of exploration of the scientific and cultural boundaries and applications of psychoanalysis and the effects of institutional conflicts around t he appointment of training analysts.