Despite their fixation on all things digital, today's teenagers still cling to a static art form that has been popular since Baby Boomers were their age: the pop art poster. From the “Hope” posters of President Obama's successful campaign by graphic artist Shepard Fairey to the standard rock band and movie star variety, posters are a proven cultural communications vehicle in public space. The American Psychoanalytic Association took advantage of this phenomenon by developing a new poster focused on “Psychological STDs” (Stress, Trauma, and Depression) to serve as the heart of a new outreach effort to teens.
APsaA has paid close attention to the paths professionals traverse on their way to becoming psychoanalysts. The “10,000 Minds Project” determined that the future of psychoanalytic thought depends on engaging undergraduate college students in psychoanalytic ideas. Further research and a New York Times article entitled, “Freud Is Widely Taught at Universities, Except in the Psychology Department,” revealed that psychoanalytic theories were often presented by college professors in abstract or harshly critical ways. In one effort to combat this tide of misinformation, APsaA established the “Teach Psychoanalysis” Web site (teachpsychoanalysis.com) to provide course material, recommended resources, specific teaching aids, and career opportunities for interested instructors. Additional outreach efforts were utilized to enhance psychoanalytic dialogue and research through the nation's higher education system.
APsaA sought to build on the success of the 10,000 Minds Project and drill deeper to develop an interest in psychoanalysis with even younger students. An organizer of New York City's primary science fair has commented that interest in the behavioral sciences is very keen among high schools so the organization's objective is to expose today's teenagers to the benefits of psychoanalysis and to cultivate interest in learning more about the field of study before they enter college. APsaA zeroed in on the two primary areas of interests that compel teenagers to enroll in psychology courses during high school as reported by San Antonio, Texas, high school teacher of psychology Kay Minter: sex and dreams.
APsaA worked with a graphic designer to create a poster that addressed the adolescent fascination with sexual activity, while outlining three of the most commonly experienced teenage psychological ailments. The “Psychological STDs” are defined as “Stress, Trauma, and Depression.” A pensive teen girl provides an illustration of the deeper issues at play in the poster's text.
For each of the STDs, a definition is provided along with suggested psychoanalytic treatment approaches. For instance, the difference between normal mourning behavior and chronic depression is outlined. The text offers an affirming message: “Psychoanalysis holds that by understanding on a deeper level what's going on now and its connection to your past, you can experience relief from the current bout of depression and enjoy life again.”
The new poster introduces basic psychoanalytic theories in an engaging, eye-catching way. Approximately 1,600 posters were produced and distributed nationwide via the mailing list of the Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) division of the American Psychological Association. A cover letter sent with each poster guides the teachers to a dedicated Web page in the Education Division of APsaA's Web site (). This Web page features:
A fully annotated lesson plan for addition to high school social science curriculum, “Freud's Impact on the 21st Century”
An article entitled, “Catching Them Early: Teaching Psychoanalysis to High School Teachers”
Links to APsaA Web pages such as: Q&A about Dreams; Q&A about Guilt, Apathy & Violence; Psychoanalytic Perspectives about Dreams; and The American Psychoanalyst Special Section on Dreams
Additionally, the cover letter offered local members of APsaA as a resource for classroom speakers to interested teachers
Psychoanalysts who attended APsaA's Winter 2009 Meeting were fascinated with the educational poster.
“To me, the poster represents a new level of achievement for APsaA's public information outreach efforts,” commented APsaA president Prudy Gourguechon. “The STD theme is incredibly arresting, and the twist, changing the meaning of STD from the common one of sexually transmitted diseases to the newly coined mental health message, grabs the viewer and keeps her focused and thinking for a prolonged period of time. I think the twist and the new message are powerful tools to combat the micro attention span of most teens (and American adults). Our psychoanalytic message must always be conveyed succinctly, but it is also complex and finding a visual and linguistic hook to slow down the observer and turn her into a reflective thinker is terrific.
“When I first saw this poster at our January 2009 meeting, I immediately had visions of it in every high school nurse's office, home room, and teen clinic. My dream would be to find a partner with greater resources than ours to help distribute it widely. A space at the bottom could be left to insert local resources,” Gourguechon said.
Copies of the poster for high school teachers are available in APsaA's Online Store. For more information about the poster, contact Dottie Jeffries at .
Dottie Jeffries is the director of public affairs of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
Mary E. Tressel is an award-winning independent public relations consultant with 20 years of experience. In addition to her work with the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, she has been providing public relations support to APsaA for the last four years.