In “A Call to Arms: Psychoanalysts Needed for Medical School Teaching” (TAP 27/4), Deborah L. Cabaniss stressed the importance of analysts' participation in the teaching of medical students. This sequel to her effort calls attention to another important group in need of psychoanalytic education—general psychiatrists, who in recent years have had diminishing exposure to analytic ideas. Among the many forums in which this trend is being combatted are meetings of the American Psychiatric Association. There a yearly Joint Panel of the APA and The American, one of very few psychoanalytic presentations to be found at these meetings, is very well attended, suggesting that general psychiatrists remain interested in the psychoanalytic perspective.
The central goal of educating these clinicians about psychoanalysis is to aid them in their treatment of patients and to help them recognize when patients may benefit from intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy or psychoanalysis with a practicing analyst. However, there are other reasons why these educational efforts are important. Harold Wylie, who chaired a workshop entitled “Psychoanalysis and Psychopharmacology: A Working Alliance” at the May 1993 meeting of the APA, noted a depressive atmosphere among general psychiatrists in the room. He found that they experienced a sense of meaninglessness in their work with patients, as they were limited to only brief visits focusing on symptoms, medications, and side effects. Wylie, along with his colleague in the workshop, Donald Nevins, attempted to illuminate for the psychiatrists the fascinating ways in which medication, character, and intrapsychic conflicts interact and how patients variously interpret the meaning of medications. The psychiatrists appreciated these efforts and emerged with a broader psychodynamic perspective on their psychopharmacological work.
With these educational goals in mind, Fredric Busch, a member of The American's Joint Committee on University and Medical Education, and Arnold Cooper, chair of the committee, have been working with Program Committee chair Arnold Rothstein to increase the representation of psychoanalytic ideas at meetings of the APA. The three have contacted a number of analysts who have presented at meetings of The American and encouraged them to submit their material for presentation at the psychiatric meetings. Wylie is one of those they contacted, and his workshop at the APA was the result.
Analysts are frequently reluctant to present their material at the APA, often for reasons of time and scheduling. They may not wish to stay the extra day or days required to present at the APA, which usually follows The Americans May meetings in the same city. Requests may be made for scheduling a presentation early in the APA week, though these cannot always be accommodated. Nonetheless, analysts can always submit their proposals and then cancel if the day they are given is not convenient. A second stumbling block has been a reluctance to fill out the forms for submission. Busch can aid members by providing forms and advising on how to fill them out, but the task falls primarily to the analyst submitting a proposal. Despite any inconveniences, however, those who have presented at the APA have found a responsive audience and an exciting and worthwhile experience.
The format of APA meetings may require some alteration of one's usual style of presentation. Papers read at APA meetings are particularly brief. The formats for symposiums and workshops, by contrast, are similar to those of panels and discussion groups, respectively, at The American's meetings, and provide the best opportunity for presenting analytic material.
Last May, in addition to Wylie's workshop, Stanley Coen chaired a symposium at the APA entitled “What are the Boundaries of Psychoanalytic Work?” Panelists included Marvin Margolis, David Hurst, Morris Peltz, and Deena Harris, and their presentations were received with great enthusiasm. This year CUME has adopted the philosophy that if you have trouble getting others to present, do it yourself. Busch and Cooper, along with Barbara Milrod and Theodore Shapiro, will present a workshop on psychodynamic approaches to panic disorder. David Goldberg has arranged a symposium entitled “The Role of Psychotherapy in Psychiatric Practice,” which will include Richard Munich on psychodynamic approaches to inpatient psychiatry, Peter Kramer on the psychology of medications, Bessel van der Kolk on trauma, Mardi Horowitz on grief, Troy Thompson on consultation psychiatry, and Robert Michels as discussant.
CUME strongly encourages analysts to pursue opportunities to present their material to general psychiatrists. These efforts at outreach are particularly important now, at a time when the voice of psychoanalysis is often drowned out by the cacophony of other treatments.