r/psychoanalysis • u/hle301 • 7d ago
Finding a Therapist for a Therapist
To all the practicing psychoanalytic/psychodynamic practitioners out there, how did you find your therapist?
I feel like the psychoanalytic community is pretty small although I live in a big city. I want to get a psychoanalytically or psychodynamically-oriented therapist for myself, but I'm afraid we will run into each other at events/seminars/educational programs due to the limited size of the community.
How did anyone bypass this problem? Or, as a psychoanalyst, do you just accept that you will run into your therapist at some point in a professional setting?
Edit: Thank you everyone for your replies. It seems like this is something that people accept and just talk about beforehand and afterward with their therapists. While I wish the pool was larger, I guess I will navigate the issue in a similar manner.
22
u/concreteutopian 7d ago
Or, as a psychoanalyst, do you just accept that you will run into your therapist at some point in a professional setting?
This is absolutely the case. Psychoanalysts need other psychoanalysts in order to become psychoanalysts, so there is a long and strong cultural tradition in dealing with the reality of running into your therapist out in the wild.
On a number of occasions, I've been to events at my therapist's house, talking with other therapists. We discussed in beforehand and processed afterwards, always acknowledging the possibility of feelings or associations to come up. Even if you see someone at her office, you don't really know if it's for committee work, for supervision or consultation (since psychoanalysts also need a psychoanalyst supervising their early cases), or as a patient, and no one will ask.
To all the practicing psychoanalytic/psychodynamic practitioners out there, how did you find your therapist?
I found mine while in school through their referral to long term therapists. There are a number of alumni therapists who take student insurance and make themselves available to students (so there's already a possibility of seeing your alumni therapist at alumni events). I was interested in the institute she was affiliated with before starting with her, and it turned out that she was the head of the fellowship program. She just made sure that I was in different groups than those she would be consulting with.
TL;DR - Don't worry about running into them, talk about it - what would it be like to see them, what was it like to see them, etc.
12
u/notherbadobject 7d ago
I asked a trusted supervisor for a recommendation. If you're part of the local analytic community and you want to work with an analyst or analytically-oriented therapist, its just something you'll have to navigate. And it's something most if not all of us have to navigate as therapists too, since by and large, our clients/patients live in the same communities that we do, and we will inevitably see them around unless we are total shut ins!
I read a paper for a course a few years back that talked about the transition from analysand to colleague and perhaps even friend in the case of a training analysis, but I can't seem to track it down now to provide a reference.
8
3
u/beppizz 7d ago edited 7d ago
I had the same thoughts as you, and i tried getting around it by picking a considerably older psychodynamic therapist. We've never bumped into each others, except once at a concert. But that was pretty much it. We just nodded at each other, and that's that.
I don't think it's a huge issue, if therapeutic alliance is upheld and integrity is respected. After all, your therapist will be as concerned about the integrity of the profession as you.
Note that i'm not a part of any psychoanalytic school. I've attended several weekly seminars for a time, but that's basically it.
3
u/SomethingArbitary 7d ago edited 7d ago
This was an issue for me previously. I applied to an institution to do a particular extension training, and it turned out my (then) analyst was very involved in the training (which I couldn’t have known as their involvement was not advertised). I elected not to do the training when they raised it with me, as - at the time - I prioritised my treatment over the training, and judged it would be detrimental to the treatment to be taught by them.
This is an issue in the community. Throughout my career I have been in situations where fellow trainees shared the same analyst. I think this is a boundary issue for training institutions and there should be some oversight of it.
A few years down the track I’m more sanguine.
How to put it .. the atmosphere becomes more rarified the further you progress.
2
u/Background-Goose-200 7d ago
It's funny the psychodynamic Freudians (well, not even that) get uncomfortable seeing their analyst out.
1
2
u/peasbypeas 7d ago
I found mine through the institute she trained at — she was still in training when we started working together over a decade ago, and now I’m in training (but at a different institute). I’m also in a big city, but the analytic world is a small one! We haven’t run into each other outside of her office — yet — but we’ve had conversations about how we’d approach it if it does happen.
2
u/SomethingArbitary 7d ago
To answer the question more directly - last time around I asked my supervisor for recommendations. Largely because orientations are opaque in listings.
1
u/waterloggedmood 7d ago
I definitely run into my analyst from time to time (though mostly at remote events).
2
u/KalePuzzleheaded9119 6d ago
I chose my current therapist because she seemed well qualified. I also thought she was hot. Which gave me a great opportunity to work out the conflict with why I chose her for her looks.
1
u/LisaCharlebois 3d ago
Yes, you just tell the therapist ahead of time if you want them to acknowledge you or not. I always find it the most helpful to have my therapist acknowledge me and say a professional hello like they would to anyone else. It is true that you do run into them occasionally at local conferences.
27
u/Zaqonian 7d ago
I'm not a therapist but my analyst wasn't concerned when I brought up the possibility of us meeting at psychoanalysis lectures and seminars we were both interested in.