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The increasing interest in the learning of psychoanalysis, and the fact that, although not so overt as in the past, resistances against it have not really abated, place a heavy responsibility on the teaching institutes. The authors examine in particular the problems connected with the didactic analysis and those related
to the organization of the psychoanalytic curriculum. They stress the importance of selection of the candidates; they feel that a good psychiatric background is highly desirable and that a solid theoretical and clinical medical preparation is preferable to a too precocious orientation toward psychology. They also believe that the professional accomplishments of the candidate indicate personality factors which must be heavily considered in the selection. The candidates must be perceptive, have a rich personality, and be capable of empathy; also, culture, intellect, and human value are of great importance.
The authors then discuss contraindications for acceptance for training: the most obvious, very serious psychopathology; less evident, too rigid a character structure concealed by a compensatory pseudonormality. They also examine in detail the manifold differences between the analytic situation in the therapeutic and in the training analyses—differences which relate both to the analysand's and the analyst's positions. These differences are connected with the fact that the candidate in analysis has theoretical knowledge of psychoanalysis, that the end of the analysis implies for him the establishment of professional and social contacts with his analyst, and that the candidate in training analysis is in a state of real dependence upon the analyst—a most delicate and serious reality factor. Also, the countertransference problems may subtly influence the course of the analysis. Finally, the authors stress the necessity for a very thorough training analysis, particularly in candidates who present a well-compensated, rigid character structure wher