Discussion of “Being Gay and Becoming a Psychoanalyst: Across Three Generations”

Abstract

ABSTRACT The author discusses three papers of Roughton, Drescher and Leli on the subject of “Being Gay and Becoming a Psychoanalyst: Across Three Generations.” The discussion reports that changes within the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) during this past decade have been remarkable. For Roughton, becoming an analyst involved denial and control of homosexual feelings and longings, acceptance of these feelings as psychopathology and a commitment to change. It involved the construction and careful maintenance of what he terms a public quasi-false self, which required exhausting constant self-monitoring lest his secret slip out. He consciously constructed a false facade designed to protect his secret. This is an experience that is familiar to many gay men and lesbians, whether they are in psychoanalytic training or not. While the APsaA made major strides in the past decade in terms of acceptance, progression and graduation of gay and lesbian candidates, Leli's experiences as an applicant, and lat...