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Times have changed and so have psychoanalysts. The cherished popular stereotype of the aloof bearded gentleman behind a couch is on the threshold of becoming a historical figure. Psychoanalysts have left their ivory tower. Their training, no less thorough than before, is becoming more inclusive of other modes of therapy. They are more venturesome and curious; rather than being critically aloof, they are eager to experience what other therapies are about. You find them mingling with group, family, Gestalt, behavior, and marital counseling therapists. Yoga, Transcendental Meditation, and Zen Buddhism are looked into as much for personal as for professional enrichment. I am inclined to think that, on the whole, analysts have benefitted rather than suffered by this exposure.
No present day philosopher can be a Kantian, and no present day psychoanalyst can be a Freudian. We are embedded in our changing culture. Change is inevitable and inherent in all living sciences. It is true that our present pace of change is too fast for accommodation. By the time we grasp a new reality, it is already passé. We are in a time of transition, which brings accentuated turmoil, because we doubt the values of the past and do not see the light of the future.
What are some of the more striking changes affecting our discipline? My description of the present-day psychoanalyst reflects a change in our regard for specialization. Ervin Lazslo (1972) states in his book that until very recently contemporary