Frequently Asked Questions

1.What is the difference between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy? 

Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy share many goals and methods. Both approach each person as an individual with a unique history and personal experience. Both work to reduce symptoms and help people to progress in their lives. Both involve an intensive effort to listen and understand the uniqueness of each person. In psychoanalytic psychotherapy meetings are less frequent, and the work may focus more on current situations and problem solving than on deeper understanding and reworking of unconscious conflicts. 

2.Who can benefit from psychoanalysis? 

Psychoanalysis is particularly useful with problems which have been enduring or repetitive. Some individuals seek psychoanalysis after having tried other forms of treatment without lasting relief. Others may wish to understand the sources of their difficulties in a deeper way. Many people may function satisfactorily at work or home but are troubled inside. Being worried or persistently unhappy, feeling blocked, having troubles in intimate relationships or jobs, or being puzzled about yourself and your behavior are valid reasons for speaking with a psychoanalyst. Typical issues include: 

• trouble in work situations such as conflicts with employers or co-workers or failure to advance 

• repetitive patterns of disappointment or conflicts in personal relationships 

• making self-defeating choices 

• difficulty in achieving life goals 

• feeling lethargic and disconnected from friends and colleagues 

• physical complaints which might be manifestations of underlying emotional conflict 

• coping with depression, anxiety, or anger. 

3.Who is a psychoanalyst? 

A psychoanalyst is a licensed mental health clinician (generally a psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker) who has completed psychoanalytic training. The PINE Psychoanalytic Center is a member of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA). The training through the PINE Institute conforms to the standards of the APsaA, and psychoanalysts trained under their auspices must meet high ethical, psychological, and professional standards. PINE is also accredited nationally by the Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education (ACPE).

4.What is transference?

In the course of a psychoanalytic treatment, patient and analyst create an intimate relationship, built on trust and shared curiosity about the mind of the patient. It is inevitable that the patient develops strong feelings about the analyst, often repeating important aspects of early formative relationships. These emotional experiences, referred to as transferences, reflect unconscious needs which are powerfully recreated in the treatment. Understanding them in this context produces important insight and frees the person to move beyond problematic repetitions.

5.What is the purpose of the couch?

In psychoanalysis, the analyst usually sits behind the patient who lies on the couch. This arrangement minimizes distractions and increases the patient’s relaxed introspection. When facing the psychoanalyst, it is easy, without realizing it, for the patient to scan the analyst's face for reactions. Facing away from the analyst enables the patient to more easily access thoughts, feelings, and fantasies, and to have associations emerge more freely, giving the patient and analyst more access to the workings of the patient's mind.

6.Is it true that psychoanalysts are silent?

Psychoanalysts are generally non-directive listeners in order to give patients the opportunity to develop their own direction. However, psychoanalysis is fundamentally a conversation in which both patient and analyst contribute to the rich and intimate dialogue.

7.Is psychoanalytic treatment all about sex?

In psychoanalytic theory, libido or "sexuality" is not limited to the meanings in common use. Psychoanalysts understand libido as the source of all pleasurable thoughts and behaviors. In psychoanalysis, much attention is given to "sexuality" and its various non-sexual transformations so that a person may have free access to desire and the capacity to experience pleasure in intimate relationships, friendships, parenting, creative endeavors, work, and so forth.