From the Editors

Over the past six months, the world has moved at a dizzying tilt and psychoanalysis has lurched into a new technological era. Before Covid-19, would we ever have imagined that we'd be discussing, via teleconference, what to say—or not say—when a patient climbs into the bathtub / closet / pantry / car seat, seeking privacy for a Zoom call? Just a few months ago—as the pandemic took hold—could we have pictured marches and demonstrations pouring out onto our streets in support of racial equality, social justice, and calls to defund the police and dismantle our prison system? Could we have anticipated the federal response to these largely peaceful protests—the presence of military troops in some of our cities?

Living and practicing in urban areas, we see up close how the pandemic and a dangerously simmering political climate, here and abroad, affect patients' moods, actions, and sense of well-being. Every day, patients express feeling isolated by Covid-19. They fear getting sick. They are inundated by a daily barrage of news that is disturbing and often contradictory. Events in the outside world erode a sense of security and undermine long-held beliefs, ethics, and ideals. Patients describe helplessness; despair; existential dread; profound concern for children already born; and reluctance to bring new ones into the world.

We are right there with our patients, no less vulnerable than they. As analysts, we too must change our footing if we are to remain standing as the ground shifts beneath us; and we must acknowledge that some of our beliefs and practices—now patently unsustainable—never were in the best interest of all we aim to serve. As analysts, we must free ourselves from outdated ways of thinking about human experience, and deeply examine aspects of our profession that over the years have been exclusionary and discouraged participation by many groups. The moment calls for psychoanalysts to think—and act—in partnership with colleagues in adjacent disciplines, to unde