Discussion

LET ME BEGIN BY SAYING that since I accepted the offer to be the discussant for this panel, I have spent some time wondering what I had gotten myself into. I found I had some difficulty resolving the question of how to discuss personal reminiscences, particularly when not mine. Had the presentations been primarily theoretical, I would have had the choice of contrasting, comparing or debating concepts. Had the presentations been clinical, there would always have been the possibility of constructing clever alternative formulations, or the opportunity to expand upon the ideas of the treating clinician. But how to discuss the training experiences of three fellow psychoanalysts, along with their subsequent development as clinicians, this issue of what we learned, what we do and what we teach? Was I going to be presented with three autobiographical accounts, three personal credos, or more likely, some combination of the two?

Ultimately, I resolved the matter by telling myself I would look for the hopefully not too elusive threads and follow the program chairperson's advice and keep my response brief, informal and, as much as possible, anecdotal. Additionally, circumstances allowing for this, I have decided to respond to the topic of the panel myself. Such responses as I do have to the presentations are sandwiched in amongst my own remembrances of times past and more recent.