A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF
PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS:

I firmly believe/recommend that people should seek treatment from those they feel comfortable with, those they feel understood by and trust. Correct information as to who is capable of doing what is important and incorrect information is dangerous.

Those therapists who treat patients intensively tend to involve themselves in continued education and supervision - peer supervision, a control analysis or supervision - depending on how much of a purist they are.

Psychiatrists: These are MD's who have a requirement of one-year residency in psychiatry. They treat biologically-based psychiatric illness with medication and medication management. They have minimal training in psychotherapy during their one year required residency. They study MEDICATION, although they may go beyond this minimum; and may become psychoanalysts. Psychiatrists generally treat and do research on biologically-based illnesses, Schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, eating disorders, etcetera, which require rigorous medical management.

Psychoanalysts: These are individuals with a graduate degree and who enter a program for the training of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Their training deals with mandatory personal psychoanalysis - a minimum of three-times-per-week sessions of a psychoanalytic treatment technique (free association, etcetera.) for a period of varying number of thousands of hours per school requirement. The normal personal psychoanalysis is 7 years. In addition analysts are required to treat patients under "controls-intensive", session to session supervision which involves an understanding of one's own feelings toward the psychotherapy and how it affects/impacts on the treatment.

The four-year training in course work and supervision is concluded with a case presentation by the PT (psychotherapist), demonstrating skill and personal insight and proof of completion of all the other requirements. This training is tremendously expensive, time-consuming and, wrenching but personally rewarding upon completion.

Jill G. Jones-Soderman - LCSW, Psychoanalyst, Psychotherapist,
Family Therapist, Forensic Counselor