For Kenneth T. Calder, the new President of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the greatest professional satisfaction lies in the private practice of psychoanalysis, from eight in the morning until six in the evening, five days a week. This brings more pleasure than teaching or administrative duties, he says, although clearly he has been willing to undertake tasks that have to be done, and he spends an average of three evenings a week at work for the Downstate and New York Psychoanalytic Institutes, at both of which he has been a Training and Supervising Analyst since 1963. Dr. Calder sees in the private practice of psychoanalysis the advantage of profound human contact with people who have long term goals which he shares, self-analysis, and the challenge to improve oneself.
It was Dr. Calder's interest in psychiatry and psychoanalysis which led him to the study of medicine, but by the time he had finished medical school he had become attracted to internal medicine. He was pursuing this interest at the Massachusetts Memorial Hospital when the recommendation of a colleague led him to the stimulating psychiatry program in Cincinnati. After nine months there, he spent two years in the army psychiatry service before returning to New York City and psychoanalytic training. He graduated from the New York Psychoanalytic Institute in 1954. Since then, the principal foci of his publications have been clinical issues in psychoanalytic practice and aspects of the selection and training of candidates.
In addition to his work for the New York and Downstate Institutes and for the American, Dr. Calder has held many positions in the International Psychoanalytic Association, of which he is currently Vice President.
Surveying the situation of psychoanalysis in America today, Dr. Calder notes that there are more analysts than ever, but each, on the average, having fewer patients specifically in analysis than in years past. In part this can be attributed to the temper of the times, he says, which fosters the pursuit of short-term gratifications, but he feels that analysts can improve the situation by their attention to their science, and by their improved knowledge of themselves and of their field.