The Contribution of Psychoanalysis to the Civilian Defense Program

Participation of Psychoanalysts: Perhaps I can make my first point most trenchant by stating a truism: psychoanalysis, as an invaluable body of knowledge about human behavior, will make almost no contribution whatever to civilian defense, to national morale, or any other aspect of the civilian war effort—unless psychoanalysts as individuals actively seek and assume posts of responsibility and authority in governmental or civilian organizations where their knowledge can be utilized and their recommendations put into effect. But this will mean a certain amount of reorientation on the part of some analysts which, I hope, will lead to a number of reality adjustments not all of us have as yet been willing to make. For instance, we must modify our traditional but often anxiety-cathected and defensive isolation from our parent fields of psychiatry and medicine, leave our sound-proof (but not bomb-proof) offices, and contribute our own efforts and special abilities to the active defense services already being rendered by our medical and lay fellow-citizens. Moreover, we must endeavor to tone down our assertions of esoteric, non-communicable knowledge, and learn to talk and work effectively with our academic colleagues, with social agencies, and with civilian, political, and military authorities. Finally—although this may be the hardest—we must be willing to learn from each of them and, when necessary, adapt our methods to theirs. But, having acknowledged the necessity for such realistic maneuvers, let me hasten to emphasize that at no time need we lose our identity as psychoanalysts, or surrender one iota of our convictions as to how to apply our analytic knowledge toward the understanding and solution of the many problems that will be presented to us. It need hardly be pointed out, however, that the most