At the beginning of the 21st century, psychoanalysis in the vast region of Asia had a very small presence. There was, and still is, one Component Society in Japan and one in India, each of which has remained relatively isolated since its founding. Aside from Australia, an area I am not including in this discussion, psychoanalysis developed in South Korea only through the interest of a dedicated group of psychiatrists who began to study psychoanalysis in 1980. It became an IPA Guest Study Group in 1991 and it will likely become an IPA Study Group in 2007. If this occurs, it represents an achievement as remarkable as it is exceptional, because it places this society on the path to becoming a Provisional and then a Component Society of the IPA.
In the 1990s, the IPA was occupied developing new IPA training centers in Eastern Europe where psychoanalysis had disappeared or gone underground during the Communist era. The IPA New Groups Committee (INGC) was dealing with new societies in Europe and Latin America and with existing societies in the United States that had applied to the IPA. (These groups could not apply to the IPA until the lawsuit for restraint of trade against the American Psychoanalytic Association was settled in favor of the plaintiffs.)
Against this background, the INGC anticipated very slow growth in Asia in the first decades of the 21st century. This expectation has proved to be false due to two unexpected factors.
First, economic, social, and political changes in China, even though still a Communist country, produced a localized but powerful interest in psychoanalytic ideas. Individual psychoanalysts, who have made many visits to China, have been surprised and impressed by the number of people who initially want to know more and who have an interest in being trained to do psychoanalytic psychotherapy. On this account the IPA has responded by establishing a task force, chaired by Peter Loewenberg, to investigate the possibility of developing psychoanalysis by the methods innovated in Eastern Europe; namely, by training some individuals to become IPA Direct Members who could form the nucleus for a Study Group.
Similarly, the remarkable growth of the economy in India has spawned an interest in psychoanalysis that was not anticipated and has the potential for significant growth beyond the Component Society already there.
Individual psychoanalysts, who have made many visits to China, have been…impressed by the number of people who…have an interest in being trained to do psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
Second, due to the initiative of Daniel Widlocher, past president of the IPA, an entirely new idea, IPA Allied Centers (AC), was developed to foster the interest in psychoanalysis in places in which it does not exist. In essence, an AC is a means to form an official relationship with a group of people interested in psychoanalysis who meet regularly. The group can apply to the IPA to become an AC. If the application is approved by the board, an IPA sponsored Site Visit Committee is appointed. After a positive recommendation, the group forms a contractual relationship with the IPA in which either party has the right to withdraw in accordance with the agreed upon rules. Then, a Review Committee is appointed to meet with the AC at least once a year at the expense of the AC. The IPA, in turn, provides a variety of services to the AC and assists it in learning how to be included in the meetings and affairs of the IPA. The AC is not authorized to train anyone to be a psychoanalyst; however, if anyone in the AC is interested in following a path to IPA Direct Membership, the Review Committee can advise in designing the steps necessary. If a sufficient number of Direct Members emerge from this AC, it is possible that an IPA Study Group can be formed, as occurred in Eastern Europe and in Korea. However, it is important to recognize the distinction between an AC and an IPA Study Group. The former is an interest group; the latter is the first step on the way to becoming a Component Society.
The AC program has been started in a cautious manner so that the contractual relationship can be improved to serve the needs of both parties. At present there is an AC in Asuncion, Paraguay, that will probably move toward Study Group status rapidly. The AC in Taipei, Taiwan, is very active in developing psychoanalytic ideas and community outreach programs but probably will develop toward Study Group status more slowly than Asuncion. Currently, the IPA is considering a possible AC in Panama and in New Delhi, India. The expectation is that there will be an increase in AC applications as the program becomes better known because it is proving to be an excellent way to develop a cadre of knowledgeable members from whom a psychoanalytic training program can emerge. If the IPA does decide to develop psychoanalysis in China, India, and the Far East, the AC program is likely to be the first step.
In combination the INGC and AC programs provide an integrated way to expand psychoanalysis in areas of the world in which there are few, if any, IPA members. These programs use innovative variations in the tripartite concept of developing psychoanalysts so that those who do become Direct Members are qualified according to the same standards as those trained in the traditional institutes.
David M. Sachs, M.D., is a training and supervising analyst in the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Center for Psychoanalysis, clinical professor in mental health sciences at Drexel University Medical School, chair of the IPA Allied Centers Committee, and immediate past chair of the IPA New Groups Committee.