Mr. Analysand

A roving street reporter uncovers all things psychoanalytical.

David Weiss is an author/multimedia maven who embarks on the journey of psychoanalysis three times a week. See full bio

September 30, 2009, Therapy

Mr. Analysand

Meet your man on the street for all things psychological.

When you've looked for something for a very long time, and you finally find it - well, you'd better mark the occasion.

PsychologyToday is an important magazine and Website, and they did me a big honor a couple of weeks ago when they offered me a spot on their blog roster - something I'd wanted to do for a long time. Today, I'm celebrating my first entry. Pop that cork!

There are a lot of smart people contributing here, and I've been reading a lot of their work for a long time. Am I really ready to squeeze my two cents in between all these Ph.D.s, LCSW's, MSW's?

There's a lot of psychological experience here already. A lot of brains.

I may not have as many degrees as a lot these people here, but I think we share something really important in common: a fascination with what makes people tick. So many of the writers here made it their career to dissect that, mind by mind.

Looking back on it now, I realize I found a shortcut into the field. I'm an analysand.

I go to psychoanalysis three times a week, working with someone whose actual job description is to try and understand me. Wow. Sometimes I think she should get combat pay. But you know what? Sometimes I think I should too. Because analysis can be amazing, but it can also be agonizing.

After my session today, it feels a lot more like the latter. We just seemed to talk in circles. Usually we get somewhere, but today we didn't. That feels frustrating.

But no matter how tough therapy gets, I'm still into it. Why? Maybe because of my family history - my grandparents, Sam and Anne G. Beck, were accomplished research psychologists who worked hard on the Rorschach (inkblot) tests. Maybe it's because my Uncle Jim is a forensic psychiatrist. Maybe it's because I think the mind - human, animal and even alien -- just rocks so hard.

Don't you? Why are you in therapy? Tell me. I really want to know.

I've got good news. Thanks to PsychologyToday.com, I now have the chance to be your eyes and ears, keeping you in the loop on things to get Psyched About. Events, video, articles, books, and people - especially people - that come my way and reshape our mental maps, I'm going to let you know about.

Meet your man on the street, radar raised for all things psychological.

I am: Mr. Analysand.