ABSTRACT
My analytic identity began forming in childhood through my experiences in my family and my own interest and therapeutic tendencies. It continued in adolescence and beyond. Later and more formally, I acquired the space to forge my identity as an analyst through the facilitating environments of NYU Postdoc, my three analyses, and a supportive marriage. At Postdoc I benefitted from a non-authoritarian training program with rigorous standards, a philosophy of diversity, and an atmosphere of respect. The process of actively synthesizing different theories and finding my own point of view was growth enhancing. My analytic experiences were illuminating though sometimes painful. Through the pleasure and the pain, I learned some of what is mutative in analysis, and what doesn’t work. Rigid adherence to theory and emotional constriction can lead to impasse and lack of progress.
