Research and psychoanalysis: Still time to bridge the great divide?

Abstract

The interface between psychoanalysis and scientific research has been characterized by controversies and polarizations that have made a constructive debate very difficult. It is argued that the roots of the controversies are better understood as stemming from an uncompromising position within the psychoanalytic field that holds that scientific research and psychoanalysis are inherently incompatible and that the only research admissible is one that takes place within the psychoanalytic encounter. A critique of this rejectionist position, still tenaciously held by a sizable minority within the psychoanalytic community, is offered, and the repercussions of adhering to such view are discussed. It is argued that the theoretical fragmentation present in psychoanalysis has mostly stemmed from the sole reliance of a theory formation based on the single-case clinical study and that the refusal to engage in scientific studies has contributed to the progressive decline that psychoanalysis has been suffering over the last 20 years. Integration of scientific research with psychoanalytic practice and building bridges with other neighboring disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience may help reestablish psychoanalysis as a relevant discipline in the university and mental health field.