ABSTRACT
The historical corollary of intolerance is the remarkable history of schisms in psychoanalytic institutes, testifying to the difficulty of containing, much less accepting, theoretical differences within existing organizations. Psychoanalysts practice alone, without the assistance or corroboration of colleagues. To be sure, they engage continually in relationships with their patients, but in those relationships they have the unique responsibility to maintain the professional boundaries of the relationship. For opportunities to supervise and teach, for referrals, for continuing professional self-esteem as well as financial security, analysts are dependent upon maintaining their standing in their professional communities. Public deviance from established practices and beliefs is risky. Analysts often view the institutional world of business and government organizations with wary detachment. There is a certain privileged sense of immunity they feel from the ambition, envy, competition, and turbulence of the world. This exploration of the tensions embedded in psychoanalytic identity, psychoanalytic organizations, and psychoanalytic culture accounts for the fragile nature of psychoanalytic institutions.
