You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Thank you for this opportunity to comment on Dr. Forrest's recent letter in which he discusses a method of soliciting charitable contributions from private psychiatric patients for the benefit of the hospital where he is a member of the voluntary faculty. Dr. Forrest is to be commended for opening this important issue to public discussion. This issue is especially timely considering the dire effects of the economy on the financial health and integrity of hospitals and academic institutions.
Dr. Forrest's approach, which I will paraphrase as the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” method of soliciting a donation to his department of psychiatry seems to be thoughtful and reasonable. It at least temporarily eliminates the concern that patient will feel coerced by their analyst or therapist. In addition, there is no doubt that the funds solicited are urgently needed for very worthy causes, namely to provide services that his department provides to a vulnerable, under-served patient population.
Nonetheless, I would submit that this approach is fraught with problems and potentially serious hazards for patients, for the therapeutic process and indeed for the analyst or therapist. I will discuss them under colloquially worded headings for purposes of emphasis, as follows.