title: A psychoanalyst reports at mid-career.
abstract: The author states that the current pessimistic impression of the potential of psychoanalysis as a therapy is largely due to the inclusion of a disproportionate number of inexperienced analysts in reports on groups of practitioners. To correct this bias, he summarizes his own experience of two decades as a full-time psychoanalyst, describing his successful analyses as well as his unsuccessful attempts. He concludes that the satisfaction of commitment to a psychoanalytic career comes from the fact that it confirms the usefulness of the analytic method as a means to assist others to achieve personal growth and to illuminate human mental life.
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy