The plenary speaker at the eighty-ninth Annual Meeting will be Fred Busch, one of the major thinkers about analytic technique on the current American scene. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine any thoughtful discussion of technique or therapeutic action that does not address his ideas about the need to emphasize the conscious ego when working with analysands.
Given the central and prominent position his ideas have gained in the analytic literature, it may come as a surprise to realize that his technical approach was first presented only eight years ago in his paper “Recurring Thoughts on the Unconscious Ego Resistances,” published in Vol. 40 of JAPA. Eleven scientific papers and two books followed as Busch became the chief spokesman for a modern ego psychological approach to analytic work. He has demonstrated that a contemporary approach to implementing the structural model allows for a vital and humanistic technique that avoids an authoritarian analytic stance while remaining anchored in here-and-now mental conflict. To paraphrase the title of one of his many professional presentations, Busch's approach is not your grandmothers ego psychology.
Busch's career has had a meteoric trajectory since that first groundbreaking paper in 1992. It is extremely rare in our profession for an individual's career to move so fast. So how does an analyst achieve the degree of recognition and appreciation that he has in such a short time? Part of the answer is to have an incisive but questioning mind, always thinking about the intricacies of the analytic encounter while never content to accept standard practice or thinking just because it is traditional. Equally important, however, is to have a tireless and unflagging passion for psychoanalysis. Those who know Busch know that his dedication to our field is remarkable and unusual. Beginning with his early days as a candidate, he has committed himself wholeheartedly to psychoanalysis by serving on local and national committees, teaching in various academic and professional venues, and engaging in psychoanalytic research that he published and presented at scientific conferences and conventions. Just a brief perusal of his CV shows the awe-inspiring degree of time and energy he has devoted to our field.
Busch has been invited to present to twenty-one psychoanalytic institutes in the United States and abroad since beginning to articulate his model of technique. Those who have attended his presentations always come away with respect for both his clinical ear and his innate warmth in the analytic session. For these reasons he is an excellent teacher and valued highly at his own Michigan Institute as well as others. He has presented to our candidates in San Diego twice, and both presentations have received rave reviews. It is not surprising that he has been appointed visiting faculty and/or GRSA at five other institutes besides his own.
Busch has not neglected the administrative or organization side of analysis. He has served on sixteen committees at the Michigan Institute over the years. Somehow he has found time to serve on eleven committees of the American. Currently he is the chair of the Committee on Self Publishing and a member of the Program Committee and Project 2000. Besides his own scholarly work, he is on the editorial board of Psychoanalytic Psychology and an associate editor of JAPA.
By now it should be clear how to achieve Busch's prominence. One has only to immerse oneself in every facet of psychoanalysis. Our organization is lucky to have someone of his dedication. We are even more lucky that he can be so brilliant and articulate. His plenary talk, “Are We Losing Our Mind?,” promises to be a stimulating and creative one.