Letters from Lockdown

It is very interesting how this conversation is holding us all together, for in this state of affairs, our sense of safety is taxed to the limit. Even children who are the age of my daughter are dying. The situation is worrying. So I wonder: What remains of the thinking apparatus in times of catastrophe when we must make catastrophic changes?

Economics remains a very strong concern among analysts and candidates. There are complications making the change to treat patients over Skype. On one hand, we explain to patients how this will allow us to maintain analysis without worrying whether one will infect the other, but there are other concerns that emerge related to tolerating the change—even institutionally. One of my main concerns in these times are certain institutional resistances that restrain the creative impulse of some colleagues and may impact the survival of these institutions. We need to find a way to deal with these intergenerational fears.

We are also addressing how the heads of mental health services are denying the reality we are living in by forcing the psychologist and psychiatrist workers to attend sessions in person. While there is an ease that technology offers, we are all observing how online therapy is much more exhausting than face-to-face therapy. The question of excess stimuli is the order of the day. There is not enough time to process all of these stimuli. Anyway, these are some of my thoughts…

Juan Pinetta

Muy interesante este intercambio que nos sostiene a todos. En particular por este estado de cosas donde la seguridad de la vida está jaqueda al límite. No se salvan ni niños de edad de mi hija, que también fallecen. Así que el estado de cosas es preocupante. Insisto en qué nos queda del aparato de pensar, sobre todo en momentos de catástrofe donde debemos hacer cambios catastróficos. Una de las preocupaciones, aparte de ir pasando a los pacientes a Skype explicándoles que así podemos mantener el aparato de pensar analí