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This is the third volume of reports on a psychiatric research project at Temple University Medical Center, where the techniques known as “direct psychoanalysis” have been undergoing study since 1956. In earlier reports—Brody's Observations on “Direct Analysis” and Scheflen's A Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia—the purposes of the project were stated: to assess the results of direct psychoanalytic treatment of psychotic individuals, as compared with results obtained elsewhere; to define the techniques of direct psychoanalysis; to consider the possibilities of teaching it; and to carry out pertinent basic research.
The four papers in this volume are concerned mainly with techniques. The authors have been privileged to observe many hours of treatment of psychotic individuals by Dr. John N. Rosen, the originator of direct psychoanalysis, and have participated in numerous discussions with him. In addition to these unusual opportunities, their resources have included tape-recordings, verbatim transcripts, motion pictures, and closed-circuit television of treatment sessions. Although they differ on certain points of understanding, these four observers seem to agree that direct psychoanalysis does include specific procedures which can be understood and used effectively by psychiatrists other than Dr. Rosen. However, since some commentators may still insist that the effectiveness of the method is attributable to Rosen's “personality,” it is unfortunate that the original design of this research did not call for the observation of two or more direct psychoanalysts at work, or for the comparison of Rosen's personality during treatment sessions with his personality at other times.
Dr. English's paper distinguishes some twenty-three tactics of direct psychoanalysis. They range from relatively simple procedures, such as “Tells Patient He is ‘Crazy’” to such abstract items as “Creating Psychological Vacuum” or “Closeness and Distance.” Each item is described briefly, and illustrated wit