Reflections on Being a Psychoanalyst*

The topic of being a psychoanalyst has been discussed since the inception of the psychoanalytic movement. Many contributors to the literature have attempted to explore what the role of psychoanalyst is and should be. The vicissitudes of being a psychoanalyst are broad, and each author has added dimensions to our understanding by discussing criteria for accepting the analytic candidate, investigating the role of empathy, and attempting to elucidate the character traits of a psychoanalyst.

The review of literature clearly demonstrates the variety of attitudes noted in the development of the professional identity of the psychoanalyst. However, I would like to explore briefly certain areas of professional development involved in being a psychoanalyst: the training experience, familial and personal relationships, the dyadic situation and ego adaptiveness, and gratifications of professional life.

Psychoanalysis requires a tremendous amount of energy to acquire a professional skill, and the psychoanalyst provides himself with additional skills in order to better treat his patients. However, it can be postulated that the primary motive for psychoanalytic training is related to developmental difficulties. Entering psychoanalytic training rationalizes the need for a psychoanalysis and denies the concept of not being well. The training experience itself requires high levels of performance at a time when the psychoanalyst is experiencing the pain, anguish, and pleasure of discovering himself. The demands of the organized institution are immense and expect a level of maturity that usually is paradoxical to the concurrent analytic experience of the psychoanalytic candidate. Seminars, supervised control cases, and certification are additional requirements of training which at one level, prepare the physician with new techniques but which can at the same time, engender an attitude of apathy and antagonism that results in little interest in the scholarly aspect of psychoanalysis as a