Mr. Analysand

Mr. Analysand Blog
Submitted by Anonymous on October 1, 2009 - 5:57am.
Dear David,

I am thrilled to see your new blog! My analyst just sent it to me this morning. He knows how much i advocate for the Voice of the Patient, and for entry of that voice into the professional analytic community - OUTside of the consulting room. How exciting! I have lots to share about my experiences as a patient - i have been writing about them for a number of years and have amassed over 60 diaries and dialogues of this demanding and amazing experience. This came about because i told my analyst at the very first consultation: "No Notes!" That my walking into his office did not automatically make me a research subject! He quickly said, " i can live with that!" and suggested that it be ME who takes notes if/as i wish. The rest, as they say, is HERstory...

(As an aside, i believe my analyst's first published paper was about working with the Rorschach!)

BTW, I have written a piece describing a moving session reflecting the synergy in the relationship that fostered the emergence of some very difficult material -a piece that i conceived as a fantasy "treatment" or outline for an imagined television segment (though actually i work professionally in the theatre)... but none of the psych journals i have solicited seem to want to publish it, even though it has been described as both, "riveting," and "compelling." Because, i guess, (sigh), it is from a patient? But mostly, we are all patients! At least, that is what my shrink says, as he encourages me to venture forth and pursue...

I have also participated in the online colloquia at IARPP, which, in a refreshing act of INclusion, welcomes all interested parties as members... Perhaps other analysands will be interested in this organization as well. I view my own involvement as an unofficial VOP, hoping it will encourage more active participation of patients as partners in a public dialogue. Like yours most surely will, on this exciting, new, blog!

Eagerly awaiting your next entry and beyond!

Hi David,
Congratulations on the new blog, I am really looking forward to reading it. I have been in therapy (on and off) for over 20 years dealing with childhood abuse issues so I come at if from the point of view of being a patient also. But I also find it an incredibly fascinating subject, especially with recent developments in neurobiology and applications of attachment theory in clinical settings. I tend to do a lot of reading on the subject. OK, if I'm completely honest, its in an effort to keep my left brain happy enough to stay out of my right brain's way. The truth is that therapy has had a huge impact on my life very much for the better, but has also been a confusing, chaotic, sometimes very painful process. My present therapist (my second) takes a very collabarative approach. Expanding on that principle, I think it's a wonderful development for this blog that they are including the voice of a patient.

It is often difficult for patients to speak up about their feelings in therapy, especially about the process itself and their therapist, because of the very problems that brought them there. I believe that therapists being able to hear how it looks from the clients side of the couch will help them be even more effective in helping clients heal.

My best wishes for your success!

Attachment Girl

My son sketched a man he imagined on Rorschach Street, and now painted him. What do you think? Link: http://twitpic.com/kays0

That is a brilliant picture! I love it. I wonder what my grandparents would have thought. Can I get this in a T-shirt?

Your son is very talented, please tell him to keep up the great work.

Best,
Mr. Analysand (David)

I went because of a life altering event, could not cope afterward.
But then, I stayed because there are things I cannot just tell a friend; too painful for the friend.
And I'd really like to have a better relationship with just about everyone, but mostly with my family
And then there is that bad stuff from high school I never got to talk about
BUT
no one warned me about attachment, feeling like you love the therapist, boundaries, 50 minute hours, diagnoses, what you DON'T get from therapy/the therapist, all the side effects and complications that turn it into "treatment"
Hope you will put all that out there....

What a great blog. I am not only a patient in psychoanalytic psychotherapy but I am a psychologist/therapist myself. Through twice weekly psychotherapy and the power of transference, I have made many very positive changes, that have benefited myself, my relationships, and ultimately, my own patients. I recently likened my experience of therapy to that of a time machine and wrote the following poem about my transference feeings in my treatment:

The Time Machine

Transfer.
Replace present for past,
past for present.
Intermingle time and step through the mirror.

Approach slowly.
Step up to the ride and become engulfed.
Step off the ride
and run excitedly to the back of the line again,
and again,
and again.

Enact, repeat, and relive.
Twirl and spin until you merge.
Merge past to present,
present to past.
Again and again.
Never tiring, never stopping.

Time moves on.
with or without the time machine,
with or without the mirror.
Grieve the loss of the ride.
Grieve the loss of the ride that was quite simply,
an illusion.

Transfer.
Step back through the mirror and return to the present.
Step back through the mirror and carry the past.

hello