On Difficulties Teaching Interpersonal Psychoanalysis (Discussions)—Some Difficulties Teaching

ONE DIFFICULTY TEACHING PSYCHOANALYSIS from an interpersonal point of view stems from the current ubiquitous lack of care, interest and respect for persons in our society. In our bureaucratic era, respect for property, protocol, procedures and policy seem to have priority. People are secondary. Now Sullivan was no respecter of techniques as such. He was noted for his respect for those people, who by reason of handicap such as schizophrenia, were given, in his day, short shrift by social institutions, and people, generally. He did respect those who cared for others with difficulties in living, such as hospital attendants. He also was attuned especially to those who tended to the young, teachers for example. As taught by Sullivan, psychoanalysis is respectful of the personal aspects of a patient's difficulties. And in later years, he referred to his treatment as intensive psychotherapy, as did Fromm-Reichmann, to distinguish his approach from classical psychoanalysis. In current society, to which all psychoanalytic students are heirs, respect for the personal dimension has suffered considerable erosion. And this part of Sullivan, this respectful part, fails unfortunately to interest candidates.

Curiously, students are interested in current literature which does stress the importance of the feelings an analyst experiences in response to his patient, cluing him to something going on in the patient and/or the process. However, they do not seem to relate this to an interpersonal theory, which, of course it is. While this is being discussed as part of classical psychoanalysis, which, shamefully, ignores Sullivan, several interpersonal psychoanalysts have contributed to the area.