ABSTRACT
Psychoanalytic ideas can be jargon-filled and hard to understand. Psychologist Kay Jamison wrote of her manic-depressive cycles, and her finding that she needed medication to stop her suicidal impulses and stabilize her mood, which then made long-term psychotherapy possible. She wrote, ineffably psychotherapy heals. It makes some sense of the confusion, reins in the terrifying thoughts and feelings, returns some control and hope and possibility of learning from it all. Analysts have been slow to embrace other research, arguing that techniques such as randomized controlled trials over-simplify and are intrusive on their patients. But studies have accumulated that show how helpful psychoanalytic therapies can be for patients with complex and long-term difficulties. Women and men, adolescent and adult, can exercise and diet their bodies into particular desired shapes, hoping to find relief. Many take prescription or non-prescription drugs to achieve the required liveliness or to smooth over disturbance.
