Six graduate students in the humanities sit around a conference table listening intently to an analyst discussing the changes in Freud's ideas in The Ego and the Id. The students consider psychoanalytic theory essential to their scholarship. Although they have read selected papers of Freud's in graduate seminars, they have had no systematic exposure to psychoanalysis, particularly the development and gradual unfolding of psychoanalytic concepts.
The students are enrolled in Psychoanalytic Theory for Scholars, a new two-year program at the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis. In this seminar the students focus on questions stimulated by their roles as scholarly interpreters and as readers who have not had clinical training. The seminar provides an historic context and conceptual framework for their psychoanalytic studies. In a concurrent seminar they meet with another analyst to discuss Freud's case studies.
These students have repeatedly emphasized their preference for learning about psychoanalysis from practitioners. They are curious about the nature of clinical experience, specifically about how clinicians listen and interpret. What is unique about this program is that the students examine the history of psychoanalytic ideas with clinicians.
The program presents the sweep of Freud's work and that of later contributors along with the inter-penetrability of clinical observation and theory. The students learn why Freud formulated and then reformulated as he did. They learn how clinical experience contributes to theory and theory contributes to clinical experience. The program is a new pedagogical initiative to inform interested young scholars about psychoanalytic ideas and developments from within our profession without requiring that they become candidates or go into analysis.
The curriculum has two goals: the development of psychoanalytic ideas and the application of these ideas to the participants' scholarly work. In the ‘psychoanalytic ideas’ courses, the students review Freud's writing, the major subsequent extensions of analytic theory, and contemporary topics relevant to the scholars' interests. Freud's studies and modern accounts of psychoanalytic treatments provide clinical data for discussion. In the series of courses on applied analysis, the students present and develop their own research in a workshop format. Students are not required to be in analysis. A certificate is given on satisfactory completion of the program.
Throughout the process of planning and launching the program, we at the Western New England Institute have repeatedly revised and modified our ideas. We began by consulting the members of our institute involved in interdisciplinary collaborations, then drawing up a preliminary vision of the program.
Next we held several information meetings for prospective students, in order to gauge the level of interest in our proposal and to learn more about the students' educational requirements. The students described the centrality of psychoanalytic concepts in their disciplines, their need for a methodical survey of psychoanalysis, and their interest in the clinical grounding of psychoanalytic ideas. During the information meetings it became apparent that a further benefit of the program for students would be exposure to colleagues with similar interests. Although meeting attendees were nearly all from the same university, they were from different departments and did not know each other.
The attendees recommended we publicize the program by e-mailing faculty and graduate students in local universities directly, rather than by posting notices in their departments.
We received eight applications and accepted all of the applicants. Two students withdrew due to time conflicts. All were graduate students. We had expected faculty and professionals to apply as well. It is too early to know what a typical enrollment will be. The students come from departments of English, comparative literature, Italian, political science, architecture, and film studies. Classes began in September 2001.
After the first semester of classes, following faculty and student suggestions, we extended the amount of time spent on Freud's writings. The students are using Freud rather than contemporary theory in their work. While we had planned that two of the five theory courses would focus on Freud, we increased this to three of the courses. Another innovation we are considering is to accept empirical investigators (faculty, post-doctorates, or graduate students) who are interested in applications to bio-psychosocial research. The applied seminars for these students would be separate from the seminars for the humanities scholars.
We have been gratified by the interest in the program and are sharing our experience with it in order to alert other institutes and societies to the existence of this lively and thoughtful group who have such a serious interest in psychoanalysis.
Elizabeth A. Brett Ph.D. is a training and supervising analyst at the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis and an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology) at Yale University School of Medicine. She coordinates and teaches in the Psychoanalytic Theory for Scholars Program.