The Culture of Psychoanalysis in the United States: The Use of State and Federal Government to Advance Psychoanalysis

Abstract

This paper focuses on the New York State law that licenses and defines the practice of psychoanalysis. The influences in American psychoanalysis that led to the law are explored, as well as the ramifications for the profession of psychoanalysis. Currently, in the United States, two psychoanalytic organizations, the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis and the Psychoanalytic Consortium (comprised of four national psychoanalytic organizations), are vying for which will exert the most influence on state licensing laws in psychoanalysis and federal guidelines for psychoanalytic training standards. In other countries, psychoanalysts are responding defensively to attempts by the State to regulate psychoanalytic practice. In the United States, some psychoanalytic organizations are pursuing establishing state licensing laws in psychoanalysis and federal guidelines for training standards in psychoanalysis.