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Contemporary Psychoanalysis Overview Who Can Benefit from Contemporary Psychoanalysis? How Does Contemporary Psychoanalysis Differ from Other Forms of Psychotherapy? Why Choose a Contemporary Psychoanalyst? Who Is a Psychoanalyst? How To Find a Psychoanalyst The Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Contemporary Psychoanalysis Overview
Psychoanalysis began with the work of Sigmund Freud but has evolved and changed greatly over the years. It has incorporated the contributions of many other analysts, therapists, and researchers. There now exists a contemporary form of psychoanalysis that serves important purposes in our increasingly complex world: It is a treatment for emotional discomfort or pain; it is an avenue for self discovery and personal growth; and it is a means toward establishing and enhancing relationships with others and the world at large.
Contemporary psychoanalysis is an interpersonal experience that emphasizes the healing properties of two or more people collaboratively making sense of life in ways that are meaningful to the client. Unlike traditional psychoanalysis which holds the analyst as an authority regarding what is true about the client, contemporary perspectives emphasize the meaning of the client's unique, subjective experience.
Based on current psychoanalytic studies plus research in child development, memory, neurobiology, and culture, contemporary psychoanalysis is an advanced method for making sense of ourselves and the world around us. Today, psychoanalysis is as strikingly different from Freudian analysis as modern physics is from the work of Newton.
Who Can Benefit from Contemporary Psychoanalysis?
A wide range of people can benefit from contemporary psychoanalysis including adults, adolescents, children, families, and couples. This flexible mode of treatment can help heal distress, expand personal growth, and develop intimate relationships with others.
A contemporary approach greatly broadens the bounds of those who can benefit from psychoanalysis. It once was believed that only a certain segment of the population, determined principally by the analyst, would be suitable for analysis. More recently, however, both analyst and client collaboratively determine the appropriateness of treatment and the way in which it will be uniquely structured for that individual, couple, or family.
Furthermore, contemporary psychoanalysis is especially useful for working with people from different cultural, ethnic, and racial groups. As a result of its tenet that all people are a product of their life experience, it offers the analyst an opportunity to be aware that culture, like any other variable, impacts both the client's and analyst's view of the world. This is a crucial asset in our multicultural society.
How Does Contemporary Psychoanalysis Differ from Other Forms of Psychotherapy?
Psychoanalysis provides a comprehensive understanding of an individual's life. In traditional psychoanalytic approaches, it is believed that the analyst attempts to be a "blank screen" onto which the client's conflicts will be projected. In contemporary psychoanalytic approaches, it is assumed that the analyst is always participating in the therapeutic situation and, therefore, works to understand the patterns of relating between client and analyst. By focusing on the relationship with the analyst, contemporary psychoanalysis creates an intensity of experience that often leads to transformation.
There are many other psychotherapies, and they vary widely in their purposes, frequency of meetings, and comprehensiveness. Some approaches focus on changing behaviors, others on thought patterns, others on problem-solving, and still others on expressing emotions. Contemporary psychoanalysis potentially incorporates many diverse ideas and approaches depending upon the client's unique, personal needs.
Why Choose a Contemporary Psychoanalyst?
An analyst trained in contemporary psychoanalysis focuses not just on past experiences, but also on the here-and-now of an individual's experiences and relationships. Attachments, separations, and losses beginning in infancy influence one's personality, as do current contexts of living, working, and loving. A contemporary psychoanalyst is interested in mutually exploring your past and present experiences and relationships. He or she participates in a dialogue with you to develop understandings about your life rather than impose some theory onto your life. The dialogue is likely to be in the language that all of us use in everyday relationships.
A psychoanalyst is an experienced, licensed mental health professional (i.e., psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, counselor, or clinical nurse specialist) who has completed advanced training at a psychoanalytic institute. The advanced training consists of three parts: Four years of classes in psychoanalytic theory and technique, a personal analysis, and case supervision. Analysts who treat children, adolescents, and families receive further training and case supervision. Analysts often teach, conduct research, and supervise others in addition to their psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic work.
All psychoanalytic institutes in your area will provide you with lists of analysts trained at their institutes. However, the best way to find an analyst is by referral from friends, family members, physicians, and other people you know who are undergoing psychotherapy or psychoanalysis or who have some familiarity with mental health professionals in your community. Because a good working relationship with an analyst is dependent on how you feel with that person, you may want to consult with several analysts. The analyst's competence, experience, interests, and training may be factors to consider in the selection process. If you would like to find an analyst or an analyst-in-training who is a member of the ICP, please click here.
The Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis
The ICP was founded in 1991 by a group of senior psychoanalysts in the Los Angeles area who saw the need for a new approach to psychoanalytic training. The ICP is a freestanding, democratic institute. It is an organized center for inquiry, clinical training, and research. It embraces the principles of academic freedom, independent thinking, and critical exploration.
The ICP offers three innovative programs for mental health professionals: Training in adult psychoanalysis, training in child, adolescent, and family psychoanalysis, and training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It also offers the community a referral service for reduced-fee psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. If you would like more information about the ICP referral service, please send an email to ICP staff.
The institute is located at 12121 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 505, Los Angeles, CA 90025-1164. For further information, please call (310) 207-8441.
(This material was written and published by the Public Education Committee, Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles. Copyright 1997.)