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Scant attention has been paid in psychoanalytic literature to the important problem of how best to conduct analytic training. There is general agreement on the necessity for a personal analysis as a prerequisite for further training, but no generally accepted criteria of pedagogical methods have been developed for the conduct of supervised analysis, case seminars, or lecture courses. Granted that for the predictable future the teaching of psychoanalysis will remain largely individualistic, still the interchange of experiences and opinions about objectives and techniques cannot fail to contribute to the skill of the training analyst and to improve the results of training.
To remedy the situation, Grotjahn advocates papers discussing the methods, principles and technique of teaching psychoanalysis. By way of opening such a discussion, he submits his experience in teaching a seminar on Freud's Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious. He does not confine himself to generalities but details faithfully the procedure of every session in the seven-hour seminar: the literature reviewed and discussed, the rôle of the mentor, the extent of participation by the students, the different facets and ramifications of the subject pursued. From the material presented it becomes possible to form an independent opinion on how near such a seminar