A couple of comments on the New York Times �Freudians at War� report: The author of the report, D. D Guttenplan, writes: "The roots of this battle are in some ways peculiar to Britain. Unlike American psychotherapy, which is regulated by states (with some states, including New York starting next year, licensing psychoanalysts as a separate category), British psychotherapy is completely unregulated by the government. Also, until recently, most psychoanalysts in the United States were required to have medical degrees. The British analysts, however, like others in Europe, follow Freud's view in his essay 'On Lay Analysis' and have never required medical training or graduate study in psychology. And because almost all psychotherapy in Britain takes place outside the National Health Service, the government has remained neutral."
It is the case that psychoanalysis or psychodynamically-based psychotherapies are mostly practised outside the NHS. However, psychotherapy *is* available on the NHS, with cognitive behavioural therapy probably the favoured option for most GPs. "Susie Orbach, a therapist, an active member of the college and the author of the best-selling 'Fat Is a Feminist Issue' and other books, says the dispute has already had 'a chilling effect' on British intellectual life." I don�t know what �intellectual life� Susie Orbach has in mind [assuming she has been accurately quoted], but as far as I am aware the �chill� has not reached beyond the parochial world of British psychoanalysis! Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.human-nature.com/esterson/index.html http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=10 http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=57 http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=58 > Calling All Ids: Freudians at War > > Who owns psychoanalysis? That question is at the center of the most recent > battle here in the Freud Wars, the epic (or as the man himself might say, > interminable) struggle over the legacy of Sigmund Freud, pioneer > psychotherapist, cartographer of the unconscious and former resident of > Hampstead, the leafy corner of Northwest London where the concentration of > therapeutic couches per square mile may be even higher than on the Upper West > Side of Manhattan. > > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/29/arts/29PSYC.html?th --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
