ABSTRACT
I would like to discuss the usefulness of Skype for providing psychoanalytic treatment. Nowadays there is a big discussion about the question: should we officially recognise psychoanalysis conducted via Skype or not? My answer to this question is unequivocally, yes, we should. But I have only gradually come to such a conclusion. I first heard of psychoanalytic sessions on Skype from my colleagues, candidates in training under the auspices of the International Psychoanalytical Association. Being very obedient to all analytical rules, my first reaction was indignation and anger. How might anyone think that it was possible? This was a violation of the setting! But many analysts and candidates in the post-Soviet regions have no other option. Having tried it, I have found Skype to be an extraordinarily useful medium in which to practise psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic supervision. So I would like to share my experience in this field, to explain the way it is done for those who have not used Skype, and to present some clinical cases via Skype to show how closely they resemble in-person sessions. Today, I use Skype for sessions in three ways: 1) in supervision as a supervisee and as a supervisor; 2) in analytic treatment with my own analyst, and 3) in analytic treatment for my patients who live in remote cities in my country, Kazakhstan, and other countries. I will focus mainly on the treatment applications of Skype.
