Discussion of Angel Garma's Article, Group Rivalry Between Analysts and Its Influence on Candidates in Training

It is generally recognized that rivalries among analysts complicate the anyway difficult life of trainees. So far as I know, Dr. Garma is the first to provide such striking examples of their adverse effects.

On general grounds I would expect every trainee to react to rivalries forced upon his notice, but I would not expect such reactions to be uniform. They would differ from trainee to trainee according to individual make-up. Thus it seems to me unlikely that every student necessarily develops “persecutory internal analysts” as Dr. Garma supposes. Whatever form the adverse effects may take, I agree that the only way to deal with them is to analyze them. This problem is really a specific variation of transference analysis, positive and negative, which it is imperative to complete if the trainee is to become a genuinely independent person and an analyst in his own right.

Dr. Garma has purposely simplified the issue as between “breast” and “genital” interpretations and is far from suggesting that either rival group always uses the same type. This antithesis resembles the one formerly much discussed in the British Society between early “deep,” and later, more cautious, interpretation. But surely any kind of stereotype in such matters is impossible. General principles can be formulated, but their application in practice must remain flexible. It is the patient who supplies the clues as to timing and type of interpretation. Where there is sound empathic attunement, it is the patient who in effect tells the analyst when to speak and what to say at any given time. Clinical seminars should help the trainee to recognize the differing needs of patients in this respect and should provide him with examples not only of correct and well-timed interpretations but also of premature, overdelayed, or otherwise faulty interventions.

Differences of opinion and new ideas must and should occur in any live movement if progress is to continue. What matters is the way in which they are handled.