Psychoanalysis and the United States research university: Current trends

Abstract

In this essay the author describes the status of the humanities within United States research universities, and notes that there is a place in the research university for clinical analysts with non-quantitative research interests, who are seen as humanities scholars by other humanities specialists. He discusses the current trend in psychoanalytic research in the United States, which perpetuates an historically well-known divide between quantitative and non-quantitative investigators, and causes non-quantitative clinician-researcher analysts to seek a workplace outside organized analysis, as it exists within the American Psychoanalytic Association. He goes on to describe the way a clinical analyst with a strong non-quantitative research commitment has found a supportive home for his investigations in a humanities institute in a research university. That analyst has been welcomed as a colleague by university-based humanities scholars, and has found that those collegial relationships offer creative freedom and interdisciplinary stimulation. The author notes that a cadre of analysts, enriched by such experiences, will be better equipped to bridge the divide which exists between non-quantitative and quantitative analytic researchers, for the benefit of psychoanalytic research in the future. The author also illustrates the benefits experienced by university-based humanities scholars when they collaborate with clinical analysts, and suggests this makes stronger ties between psychoanalysis and research universities more likely in the future.

German students’ current choice of profession in the field of psychotherapy

“…A good approach would be to combine epistemological aspects with considerations of ‘good psychotherapy’ in university teaching (e.g. to draw attention to such problems as the bias towards quantitative empirical teaching, especially in psychology, and eclecticism – see Epstein, ; Sonnenberg, ). Attempts should also be made to demonstrate the practicability of psychoanalysis too with patients, for instance by means of student seminars on the conduct of interviews.…”

The clinician in the university: Reflections on a South African psychoanalytically oriented doctoral programme

“…There has been far less attention paid to the converse issue of how the university may (or may not) desire psychoanalysis. Freud's formulation is that psychoanalysis can contribute to the university, but there has been less recognition of how the university can contribute to psychoanalysis (Sonnenberg, ) and not just in the sense of how the university may help psychoanalysis solve its problems without altering its fundamentals. Psychoanalysis and formal academia are set up in opposition and the debate is in danger of being one‐sided.…”

“…For example, it has been observed that “academic life is regulated by laws and rules that are logically incongruous with psychoanalysis” (Filho and Horizonte, , p. 91), that university discourse has no room for subjectivity (Ferrari, ) and that scientific research is incompatible with psychoanalytic research (Hoffman, ; Stern, ). In contrast, Sonnenberg () describes a mutually productive partnership in a humanities faculty in the United States, and Paul () points out that “universities are likely to have more very smart people per square yard knowledgeable about and interested in psychoanalysis than any other sort of community” (p. 995). The reality is that psychoanalysis as a theory, and even as a practice (albeit often in modified forms), has been a vibrant part of various university disciplines for decades.…”

“…Wallerstein, ), offer much needed interdisciplinary inspiration (Sonnenberg, ; Wallerstein, ), enliven interest in psychoanalysis (Paul, ) and offer space for various forms of applied psychoanalytic endeavour (Gilman, ) which seem to have particular innovative impetus at present. There have also been reflections on attempted – sometimes successful, sometimes failed – collaborations between psychoanalysis and the university, for example in the United States (Sonnenberg, ; Wallerstein, , ), France (Rousillon, ), Argentina (Ferrari, ) and Brazil (Filho and Horizonte, ). In this mutual exchange, it has been suggested that one of the major advantages offered by universities, apart from a strong research tradition, is the opportunity for cross‐fertilization and intellectual debate, as well as the legitimacy that is conferred by the university's emphasis on intellectual growth and rigour.…”

“…As Sonnenberg () notes, discussions on the relationship between psychoanalytic practice and academia often include reference to Freud's () comments on universities. On the one hand, Freud felt that psychoanalysis could contribute to universities, and indeed it has been suggested that Freud wished for more recognition from these academic institutions, withheld at the time primarily due to enduring anti‐Semitism (Gilman, ).…”