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The introduction to Analysts in the Trenches presents a veritable manifesto for “community psychoanalysis,” (p xiii) which the editors view as a “discrete field” within psychoanalysis (Twemlow and Parens, 2006, p 430). The editors, each a psychoanalyst engaged in community praxis, have collected a dozen chapters representing various applications of psychoanalysis to problems faced by individuals, families, and groups outside the consulting room. The biopsychosocial problems addressed in this fine collection vary from childhood violence prevention to inter-ethnic conflict to post-traumatic reactions in emergency response workers at Ground Zero.
What unites and distinguishes the various community psychoanalysis applications described in Trenches is the intention and commitment to “applying our knowledge of the influences of unconscious [my italics] processes… to population groups” (Twemlow and Parens, 2006, p 435). The authors marry theoretical and phenomenological approaches in assessing the impact of internal and external influences on development. Some might be inclined to term this work “applied psychoanalysis,” though I believe this term suggests a lesser clinical impact, more akin to applications of psychoanalysis to art and literary criticism. The editors, too, veer away from this term and consider the work they and the other authors depict as “community psychoanalysis,” a sub-field of its own whose practitioners employ “creative strategies… when assisting communities to overcome violence and the transmission of trauma” (p xiii).
This may seem a radical departure from the role of the stereotyped classical analyst sequestered in his/her consulting room, steeped in a dyadic analyst-analysand engagement. However, contemporary clinicians come to psychoanalysis with varied professional backgrounds, and many of them have prior experience with community work. Furthermore, there is a rich history of analysts engaged in de facto community psychoanalysis, including, as per