The Ethics Of Psychoanalysis: An Introduction

Ever since Freud conceived the idea that speaking candidly to another person may relieve psychological conflict, ethics has played a critical role in every psychoanalytic encounter. Questions concerning the nature of truth, candor, confidentiality, guilt, honesty, manipulation, suggestion, authority, and power influence the atmosphere of every psychoanalyst's consulting room. Ethical issues also affect our formulation of theory, our insights, and our blind spots, as well as the nature of training institutes and the analyst's role in society.

Derived from the Greek ethike techne, meaning “the moral art,” the term “ethics” is in turn derived from the Greek ethos, meaning “character.” Both the character of a person who aspires to behave ethically and the customs of a people by which one's standards are measured derive from the concept. Whereas most people today associate ethics with little more than a set of rules by which to temper one's behavior, in ancient times ethical behavior was situated in philosophical debates concerning the right way to live. The means by which ethical standards have been measured ever since consists in the rights of the individual, on the one hand, and the pleasure of the community on the other. Hence, ethics can be seen as a way of life (or gogi) by which the individual may obtain happiness, or as a custom of conduct by which the individual “sacrifices” his narcissism for the interests of the community at large.

If psychoanalysis is an ethic, then what kind of ethic does it foster? What are the rules by which it is administered and what is the basis of its method?