ABSTRACT
The acceptance or rejection of a patient for psychoanalytic treatment is often based on factors other than some generally accepted criteria for analyzability. Further, psychoanalysts do not always acknowledge publicly to the patient, or even to themselves, the personal reasons why certain patients are deemed to be analyzable or unanalyzable. In spite of the literature in this area, diagnostic concerns, and past experience with patients, each time a given analyst accepts or rejects a patient for analysis it has largely to do with the analyst's own theoretical viewpoints plus the specific interplay between that analyst and that prospective patient. The literature on analyzability supports the idea that only the best-functioning people meet analytic criteria. Bachrach and Leaff's (1978) paper is an extensive review of the Classical analytic literature on analyzability. According to most criteria, Mr. B's history of acting out and financial instability would make him an unlikely analytic candidate.
