Who is a psychoanalyst?
A psychoanalyst is someone who facilitates a patient’s self-inquiry, assisting in the exploration of the patient’s inner world and helping to clarify the hidden conflicts and fantasies that have limited the patient’s freedom.

A psychoanalyst may be a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker who has decided to pursue psychoanalytic training in order to deepen his or her understanding of the human mind. These individuals have had extensive clinical experience before beginning psychoanalytic training and have met high ethical and professional standards. They then complete six to eight years of psychoanalytic training (as a “Candidate”) under the auspices of the American Psychoanalytic Association.

This training consists of three parts. Candidates attend classes in psychoanalytic theory and technique. They undergo a personal psychoanalysis. And they conduct the psychoanalysis of at least three patients under the close and extended supervision of experienced analysts. Candidates who plan to treat children attend further classes and, with supervision, analyze boys and girls ranging in age from toddlers to late adolescents.

In addition to conducting psychoanalysis, many psychoanalysts also see patients in psychotherapy. Some psychoanalysts treat couples, conduct family or group therapy sessions, work with elderly patients. They also teach mental health trainees in various settings, and consult in the community, in schools, non-profit organizations, businesses, and for professional groups, such as teachers, judges, religious leaders.

The education psychoanalysts receive in individual development enhances their therapeutic work in many different settings, including hospitals, medical schools, colleges, daycare centers. It informs the analyst’s contributions to the community -- as teachers, supervisors, consultants, and researchers.

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What is the difference between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy?
In both psychoanalysis and psychotherapy there are shared goals. Both work to reduce symptoms and to help people to progress in their lives. What distinguishes psychoanalysis is the exploration of unconscious processes, the resolution of underlying conflicts, and the examination of the development of character structure. Psychoanalysis is more intensive, meeting four or five times a week and using a psychoanalytic couch.

Psychoanalysis approaches each person as an individual with a unique history and personal experience. People make the best choices they can, given their circumstances and their assumptions about themselves. Psychoanalysis gives patients the opportunity to examine these assumptions, understand their origins in their lives, modify them if necessary, and make better choices for themselves.

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Who will benefit from psychoanalytic treatment?
Psychoanalysis is an intensive form of psychological treatment that helps people address mental and emotional disorders, increasing self-understanding and personal freedom.

Psychoanalysis is particularly useful when problems have been enduring or repetitive. Some individuals come to psychoanalysis after having tried other forms of treatment and achieving only limited benefit. Others wish to understand in a deeper way the sources of their difficulties. Typical issues include:

• trouble in work situations (for example, difficulty getting along with employers or co-workers)
  
• repetitive patterns of disappointment in personal relationships
  
• difficulty achieving life goals
  
• feeling lethargic and disconnected from friends or colleagues
  
• physical complaints that might be manifestations of underlying emotional conflict
  
• coping with personal losses and transitions
  
• difficulties with depression, anger, anxiety.
  

Many people may be doing well at work and home, but are troubled inside. Being worried or persistently unhappy, feeling blocked, having long-standing internal conflicts, or being curious about yourself and how your mind works, are valid reasons for speaking with a psychoanalyst.

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Is there evidence that psychoanalysis is an effective treatment?
There is now a large body of empirical data supporting the efficacy of psychoanalytic therapy and psychoanalysis. Empirical studies have demonstrated changes in subjective symptoms, external functioning, and psychological flexibility.

Psychoanalysis generally results in a substantial reduction of distressing symptoms, increased satisfaction in relationships and work life, decreased internal conflict, and greater capacity to cope effectively with the inevitable adversities of life. Another goal of psychoanalytic treatment is to encourage self-analysis so that the patient can continue to adapt to new situations and challenges after the analysis ends.

Psychoanalysis is a highly individualized treatment that develops within the context of two individuals -- the patient who is seeking help and the analyst who is an expert in the workings of the human mind.

To learn more about specific studies, please go to the research site of the American Psychoanalytic Association

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What is the reason for the couch?
The couch provides the patient with relaxation and freedom, allowing a concentrated focus on the internal world. The analyst sits behind the patient to minimize distractions and to maximize access to memories, feelings and fantasies.

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What is transference?
We all draw on past experiences and relationships to evaluate current experience. We unconsciously recreate aspects of past relationships, especially important early relationships such as parents, grandparents, and siblings. These are referred to as transferences.

Transference experience within the treatment can provide insight into early relationships and offers an opportunity in the present to work through unresolved conflicts from early life that have continued to create problems in present day life.

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Is it true that psychoanalysts are silent?
Psychoanalysts are generally non-directive listeners. However, psychoanalysis is fundamentally a conversation in which both patient and analyst contribute to the rich and intimate dialogue.

The technique of psychoanalysis makes use of unconscious mental processes, revealed as we allow our minds to associate freely to our spontaneous thoughts and feelings. A psychoanalyst will often listen quietly to the patient’s associations, avoiding intrusions or efforts to direct the patient’s thoughts. This form of quiet listening alternates with verbal exchanges that assist the patient’s exploration of his/her inner world and clarify the hidden conflicts and fantasies that have limited the patient’s freedom.

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Is psychoanalytic treatment all about sex?
Within traditional psychoanalytic theory, ‘sexuality’ is not limited to the meaning in common use. Psychoanalysis understands sexuality as the source of all pleasurable thoughts and behaviors.

Much attention is given to ‘sexuality’ and its various non-sexual transformations so that a person may have free access to desire and the capacity to experience pleasure in life pursuits - intimate relationships, friendships, parenting, creative endeavors, work, and so forth.

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Is psychoanalytic treatment ‘never-ending’?
Most psychoanalytic treatments have a definite beginning and ending. The length of psychoanalysis may range from two years to ten years or more, but a typical duration is four to five years.

As part of the treatment, the patient’s ability for self-analysis is enhanced. Therapeutic gains achieved during the analysis are often continued and consolidated following termination of the treatment.

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What does psychoanalytic treatment cost?
Psychoanalytic treatment is affordable and efforts are made to take an individual’s financial situation into account when the fee is set. Many psychoanalysts will reduce their fees if the cost would be prohibitive. Lower fee psychoanalysis is also available through this psychoanalytic institute (PINE) where candidates (those studying to become psychoanalysts) conduct psychoanalysis under close supervision as a part of their training. (This supervised analysis is referred to as a “control analysis.”)

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