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DURING THE PRESIDENCY of Dr. Leah Davidson, the Program Committee of the W. A. W. Psychoanalytic Society had organized a series of scientific meetings on the theme of "Culture, Ethnicity and Psychoanalysis" to explore how cultural concepts have been utilized in psychoanalytic theory and practice. As a continuation of this inquiry, it was decided to examine the subculture of the psychoanalysts' professional world in relation to developmental issues emerging throughout their life cycle.
As we have explored how the patients cultural past and present influences the transference, counter-transference, therapeutic expectations and mode of relating; reciprocally, it becomes important to explore similar issues for the significant other in the therapeutic dyad, the analyst. The professional and personal issues that the analyst confronted have often been shrouded with secrecy and explored only within the confines of a personal analysis or with close friends and family. The analyst has been under a certain pressure to maintain a presence of maturity, stability, authority and invulnerability that may not coincide with actual reality. It is exceedingly important that the psychoanalytic community openly address the professional and personal issues that analysts face in the course of their professional lives and work collectively towards a successful resolution.