Psychoanalytic education has reduced clinical writing into a teleological process, a means to an end, reflecting the documentation mantra, “if it wasn’t documented, it didn’t happen.” The art of writing, however, has more to offer in its exploration. This discussion seeks to highlight how the writing process supports both clinical practice and the development of analytic identity in psychoanalytic trainees.
Writing about our internal experience with patients revives and uncovers associative material, shedding light on the unique dynamics of a particular treatment. In addition, this process reveals the anxieties harbored by candidates as we begin training.
Beginning and senior candidates will present vignettes from their early encounters with analytic patients, illustrating the ways our experience of writing helped us to understand ourselves as budding analysts. Discussants Jennifer Stuart, Ph.D. and Mark Moore, Ph.D. will respond, drawing from their own expertise in clinical writing and experience teaching psychoanalytic trainees.
