ABSTRACT
Psychoanalysis occupies a favored but dangerous position in our intellectual fortifications; we must sometimes regard it as the citadel of reason against the forces of superstition, while at other times it is a redoubt to be conquered in the name of science. A great deal of fuss is always made over the problem of selecting a control group. It is largely unnecessary. Analysts rightly argue that even within a symptomatically identical group, dynamic differences may be enormous and the indicated treatment totally different. The only effect of such a possibility would be narrowing the gap between the results of psychoanalytic therapy and no therapy at all, assuming psychoanalysis shows up better than this control. But once more, the absence of a significant distinction would count heavily against psychoanalysis.
