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Rainer and Altshuler are pioneers in the application of psychoanalysis and psychiatry to the problems of the deaf. They have had key roles in the development by the New York State Psychiatric Institute of a unique spectrum of services, including an inpatient service for deaf persons at Rockland State Hospital and a variety of outpatient services. In the process they have performed much fundamental research and have stimulated the clinical and research work of others.
The Workshop for Psychiatrists on Extending Mental Health Services to the Deaf reported in this volume was the first national conference of psychiatrists and their co-workers who work with the deaf. The report highlights the accomplishments and the vast unmet needs in the field.
The psychoanalyst will find much to instruct and challenge him in this slim volume. Among the most interesting contributions are those by several well-functioning and creative deaf persons, which provide sharp contrasts to those in the Rockland State Hospital case presentations. But it is encouraging to see that even among neglected state hospital deaf patients surprising therapeutic and rehabilitative progress can be effected: that is, if such patients are treated in a therapeutic milieu where personnel are dedicated and have mastered the technique of manual language, and if there is close liaison between the therapists and the patients' families, employers, etc. outside of the hospital.
Psychoanalysts who read this report will find that work with the deaf is a fertile field for research in ego development—particularly the cognitive functions—, superego development, and object relations. In short, psychoanalysis has as much to gain as to offer in the field of work with the deaf.