Interview with Irwin Hirsch on His Book, Coasting in the Countertransference: Conflicts of Self Interest Between Analyst and Patient

Alan: What motivated you to write this book?

Irwin: In 2003, I published an article on the trauma of September 11th and how it impacted my life and my practice. I observed that many of my colleagues' patients spoke about this trauma not only often, but for many months beyond. This was not the case with my patients after the first couple of months. I saw this as a dramatic illustration of how different personal psychologies influence what is talked about in treatment. For my own psychic protection, I compartmentalized my reactions to terrorism, violence and personal and family danger. Other therapists, less inclined to compartmentalize - perhaps unwittingly by contagion - may have influenced their patients to experience the more openly anxious and frightened aspects of self. This was a stark illustration to me of there being no “ideal” countertransference, no ideal analytic personality type. As well, this brought to light how personal self-interest and pursuit of psychic equilibrium influenced not only my own work, but others' as well. In addition, from the beginning, my writing has had a confessional tone and emphasized the significance of the analyst as a person. Sandra Beuchler and Joyce Slochower each published articles around the same time period candidly depicting the analyst's self-interest and how ubiquitous this is in practice. They emphasized the need to acknowledge this, to embrace it thoroughly and to make the effort to push oneself to do what is uncomfortable. These articles helped make me realize that this subject is very insufficiently dealt with in