PSYCHOANALYSIS IN TRANSITION - WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT AND WHAT MUST BE LEARNED

A brief outline of the essential features of psychotherapy and its ori gins is followed by a survey of the two lines along which psychoanalyt ic therapy has evolved: on the one hand, traditional individual analys is with frequent sessions over a long period of time and on the other hand the wide-ranging application of psychological principles with dif ferentiated and adaptive indications. We describe how the variations t hat have arisen relate to the form of organization, the setting, the t herapeutic techniques and the means of communication. A brief account is given of the development of psychoanalytic training, particularly a s described in the publications of Balint and Ekstein. On the basis of the evolution and current status of psychoanalysis, we make some reco mmendations as to the future training of analysts, with reference to t he special importance of supervised analysis as a means of intensifyin g self-experience in addition to its other benefits. We go on to empha size the necessity of self-experience in psychoanalytic techniques tha t make use of non-verbal means of communication, such as body feeling and creative activity. Finally, self-experience of the therapist's com munication via facial expressions and gestures is recommended, as is s ocial-psychological/group-dynamic self-experience in specially designe d training courses. The narrow practice of psychoanalysis/psychotherap y, concentrating as it does on the traditional long-term, high-frequen cy process, urgently needs to be broadened by the introduction or emph asis of these modifications, which should form a more important part o f training programs than has hitherto been the case.