ABSTRACT
There is some confusion in the literature between indications/ contraindications on the one hand, and criteria of suitability/unsuitability on the other. Freud introduced the term indication from the classical medical model, meaning that both the patient's history and his symptoms suggest a disorder for which therapy would be appropriate. Contraindication suggests that a particular treatment should not be employed. While criteria of suitability reflect assessment of the patient's qualities and capacities to form a therapeutic alliance, this chapter is chiefly concerned with contraindications for psychodynamic psychotherapy. Most psychoanalysts regard the presence of psychiatric illness as a contraindication for psychoanalysis on the basis of the patient's symptoms and criteria of suitability, which, in this situation, overlap. Mental deficiency is generally regarded as a contraindication for psychoanalysis, not because of the symptoms calling for treatment, but because of the patient's low intelligence.
