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WRITING FOR PROFESSIONAL AUDIENCES is an established tradition in all of the professions. It stands as a means of preserving the special knowledge and history of the profession, communicating new findings, providing a means of dialogue and through the process of writing to work out new ideas subsequently presented for collegial scrutiny. In psychoanalysis this has been a rich and productive endeavor, beginning with the prolific writings of Freud. Freud's writing reflects all these functions of professional writing as well as providing a valuable documentation of the development and changes in his ideas.
Unique to psychoanalysis in this tradition of writing is that the writing itself may be subsequently explored by the reader using the principles of psychoanalysis. Not uncommonly does one hear evaluations of the writer based on the style and content of his or her professional writing. However, analysis of the processes of writing, the influence of writing on the practitioner, the influence of writing on the process of therapy or the influence of the therapy on the writing are not frequently presented.
Some of the complex dynamics involved in writing for publication and for the psychoanalytically oriented writer in particular became a focus of interest when the idea of writing was found to have disrupted our supervisory sessions. As we reflected on the processes involved in this disruption, we began to recognize that many complex issues were operating. Some appeared to be related to writing in general and others were more specific to the practice of psychoanalytic therapy and writing for a psychoanalytically sophisticated audience. In this paper, we have attempted to raise issues for consideration by presenting the process of our exploration and the concepts we came to consider.
Because this exploration developed out of a supervisory situation,