ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to demonstrate that a psychoanalytic perspective is absolutely essential for clinical work in inner city public clinics. It considers how a psychoanalytic point of view contributes to an understanding of the dynamics of the therapeutic work that takes place in such clinics, with a particular focus on race, social class, and culture. The criteria of analyzability are linked to a psychoanalytic technique that became increasingly rigid in the United States. While it is true that such distinctions as “healthy” analyst versus “sick” or ego-deficient patient are maintained by self-fulfilling prophecies, it is also true that such distinctions have a way of unravelling within the interaction. Psychoanalytic one-person, two-person, and three-person psychologies are all necessary for an adequate understanding of this case, considered as representative of those encountered in public clinics. A psychoanalytic perspective is valuable in all sorts of contexts, then, including a psychoanalytic workshop.
