All Psychoanalysis is Local

Abstract

This article discusses the idea that psychoanalysis, like politics, is based in the “local”. Although there are universal aspects of human nature reflected in psychoanalysis, such as the method and the basic technique, there is great diversity in those who practice, train and work in particular environments and historical epochs. This article examines the development of psychoanalytic institutes and institutions as freestanding rather than university based. It discusses psychoanalytic training and the implications of the top-down foundation of the International Psychoanalytical Association as an organization that ultimately decreed who was and who was not a psychoanalyst across national borders. It explores how this top-down approach to authorization and regulation rigidifies and stymies creativity in the field through psychoanalytic training and education and suggests an institutional structure in psychoanalytic education and training that keeps responsibility and accountability at a local or at a federated national level without official surveillance and control at an international level. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.