Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis in The Nineties

Abstract

Th e Ph iladelphia Associa tion.for Psychoanalysis hosted a panel designed.for medical students, psychiat ric residents, psychiat rists and other professionals interested in applying psychoanalysic thought and listening skills to areas in general psychiat ry. Th e educational objecti ves included increasing fa mi liarity with the various components qfpsychoanalyt ic listening, (greater skill in mak ing use ofpsychoanalytic listening in work wi th patients) and height ened awareness ofthe varied applicat ions qf'psychoanalytic listening as a tool in general psychiatri c practice. T he Philad elphia Association for Psychoa na lysis host ed a pan el designed for medi ca l stude n ts, psychia t r ic residen ts, psychi atrist s a nd other profession als in terested in applying psychoan a lyt ic th ou ght a nd listening skills to areas in gene ral psych iat ry. Moderat or Bru ce J. Levin , M. D. ope ne d th e pa nel by describing two ge ne ra l approaches to patient ca re in psych ia t ry in th e 1990 's. U tiliz ing advances in neuroscien ce, one approac h searches for th e physica l and descriptive means to understand pat ients. Throu gh ca re ful listening, t he ot her a pproac h searc hes for th e emotional con t r ibu t ions to illn ess. The latter approach of ca re ful psychoa nal yt ic liste ning has expande d knowled ge in psych on eu rosis, personality di sorders, psych osoma tic medicine, gro up psych ology, a nd child a nd adolescent psych iatry. T hr ou gh a personal an a lysis, psycho an a lyt ic coursewor k, clinical expe rie nce and supervision, psychoa nalysts lea rn to eva lua te th e manifest con te nt of speech in searc h of its deeper meaning. Through th is meth od , th e analyst un covers un con sciou s conflict whi ch gives a grea te r understanding of th e pat ient to promot e furthe r a llevia t ion of suffe ring. Dr Levin developed the pan el d iscu ssion to demonstrate th at psychoanalyti c principl es applied