Psychoanalytic Assessment

PSA 1st Year - 1st Trimester
First Year Candidates
10:00 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.

Allan Jong, M.D.
David Frank, M.D.

In this course we will review evaluations of several patients who are being considered for psychoanalytic treatment. We will focus how we try to determine if psychoanalysis is the preferred treatment for a given patient, and we will discuss the readings in conjunction with the clinical material. Ongoing work-ups will be presented by two or three candidates and one of the instructors.

* = Available on P.E.P. and will not be provided to you by the Institute.

Read “Greenson” for the first class.

Greenson, Ralph, The Technique and Practice of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 1 pp. 51-56; 358-364: 409-411. (Some of the terminology is out of date, especially diagnostic terms; try to ignore that and think about the principles)

Waldhorn, H.F., “Assessment of Analyzability: Technical and Theoretical Observations,” Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Vol. 29 pp. 478-506, 1960. (This article, a “classic,” presents something of a checklist. It will provide a good starting point for a discussion)

*Rothstein, Arnold, “A Perspective on Doing a Consultation and Making the Recommendation of Analysis to a Prospective Analysand,” Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Vol. 64, pp 680-695, 1994. (This article presents a point of view very different from the “classical” -- also a good starting point for a discussion.)

Ehrlich, Lena Theodore, “The Analysts Reluctance to Begin,” Journal American Psychoanalytic Association, Vol. 52/4, pp 1075-1093, 2004.

Additional Readings:
These are two recent research-oriented articles. Strongly recommended.

*Erle, Joan and Goldberg, Daniel, 253 Analyses from Selection to Outcome, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Vol. 51, No.1, pp 257-293, 2003.

*Caligor, Eve et al., "Converted and Clinic Cases as Control Cases," Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp 201-220, 2003.