A long time ago, when studying Psychology at University, I questioned an experienced professional about how to become a good clinician, and she wisely answered: the further you go with your analysis, the deeper your journey with your clients will be; the more you will help them; foremost is the personal psychotherapy that enables one to become a good psychotherapist, and after that, I was keen on venturing into this journey. In my first session, I was asked why I was looking for analysis; my response couldn’t be more rational and naive: “I’m pursuing self-knowledge”. In fact, I couldn’t guess how immersive and challenging my process of becoming an analyst would be, and thankfully, I had the couch to back me up.
The analytic process is a construction; not all patients are initially open to such an immersive experience, and many of them often start at a low frequency, once or twice a week psychotherapy sessions. The extent of a psychoanalytic treatment is closely connected with its goals. To people, in general, the recommendations are based on the symptoms of the psychopathology and take into account the patient’s structure of personality; however, to become a psychoanalyst, one needs more, not only regarding treatment length but also in terms of engagement. The intimate contact with one’s psyche is only possible through a long, constant and intense journey through one’s internal world.
The essence of training to be a psychoanalyst comes foremost from experiencing the method via intimate contact with our psychic. Concomitantly, it will unfold in the classroom, in readings, in the apprehension of the concepts, and during supervision, which are also part of the learning process. One can teach and learn theory, but embodying the role and the analytic stance is intimately linked and connected to our internal growth: fine-tuning the capacity to listen first starts in ourselves and then becomes available to others.
Hinze (2015) believes that among the desirable competencies of a psychoanalyst candidate, the decisive one is the ability to grasp the emotional importance of analytic encounters in the sessions, which goes beyond listening to stories; starting to understand the impact of this analytic encounter it is a breakthrough in their development as psychoanalysts. I would add that we should remain curious about our minds and, consequently, the patient’s mind, to delve deeper and deeper and not get enough of coming across new links, associations and facts that are being revisited each time differently. Analysing your patient’s psyche makes you be confronted with your own psyche. Bion (1979) goes even further when he writes that an emotional storm is inevitably created whenever two personalities meet. His statement describes the emotional intensity of this encounter and the tight connection between transference and countertransference. This makes the analysis an inexorably surprising journey full of possibilities, as the psychic space created is open to both the pair and each participant.
The analysis is an adventure with more guesses than certainties and more questions than answers. The constant encounter with the unknown turns this experience into a fascinating and daunting journey. You learn to trust the process, realizing that the most significant part of your mind is not obvious to you. The experience in the analysis is self-formative and unique, and it’s essential to integrate a role model. It is impossible to transmit theoretically due to its immersive nature; it is experiential, experimental, and a ‘bespoken’ live encounter.
Thalita Gabínio – Psychotherapist and Psychoanalyst
References
Bion, W. R (1979). Making the best of a bad job. Bion WR (1987) Clinical seminars and four papers, 247-57. Abingdon: Fleetwood Press.
Hinze,E. (2015) What do we learn in psychoanalytic training? Int J Psychoanal 96:755-771.
