Off the Mark

The letter in the June 6 issue titled “Off the Couch” in which Drs. David Brody and Michael Serby refer to psychoanalysis as a “marginalized treatment” no more relevant to psychiatry than “musicology” requires a brief reply.

Readers need refer only to the article on the very same page to find compelling reasons for valuing psychoanalysis both as a technique for treatment and for its concepts, which are so widely used in psychodynamic psychotherapy. In his article “Uses of Self in Psychiatric Training,” Dinu Gangure, M.D., stated, “What I found helped me understand and participate more effectively in the psychotherapeutic process was undergoing a personal psychotherapy myself.” Even if the juxtaposition of that article and letter was simply fortuitous, Psychiatric News is to be congratulated on it.

The letter by Drs. Brody and Serby is simply not reflective of residency programs or of current thinking in psychiatry.

Dr. Turkel is president of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.