TOWARD THE END OF HIS DISCUSSION OF lay analysis in 1927, Jones stated, "Both the internal and external bonds between psycho-analysis and clinical medicine … are fundamental in character, and they can be ignored only at considerable cost to psycho-analysis" (p. 196; italics added). In my opinion, those words continue to be pertinent today; I would add that the fundamental bonds between psychiatry and psychoanalysis can be ignored only at considerable risk for psychiatry.

Despite the changes in theory, practice, socioeconomic context, and new research during the 56 years since Jones' statement, and despite the tendency to drift apart, especially during the recent political vicissitudes and economic storms, I believe that both psychiatry and psychoanalysis will benefit more from renewal than from discontinuity. Perhaps it is time to negotiate a new contract based on present realities and future potentialities; indeed, many of us believe this is a time for a new beginning rather than a trial separation.