Dissenting colleagues; power, alienation, vulnerability

Abstract

In this article I explore conscious and unconscious dynamics in relation to questions of power and vulnerability which frequently permeate relationships between psychoanalytic colleagues. Such dynamics have frequently led to splits in psychoanalytic training institutions. I focus particularly on the anxieties, rivalries, and alliances emergent in relationships between psychoanalytic colleagues in the UK between 1934 and 1945. I highlight how the transgenerational transmission of these dynamics has continued to affect the development of psychoanalytic organisations in the UK contemporaneously. I argue that attention to our own and to our colleagues’ vulnerabilities is generative of productive, creative and mutually enhancing professional relationships which allow for critical questioning and differences. Such attention is crucial for psychoanalytic practices if we are to enable our patients to discover the power of their own independent voices. It is also vital for the development and survival of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the current political climate.