ABSTRACT
The shift from “psychoanalytic anthropology” to “anthropological psychoanalysis” (see Chapter 1) and the gradual accrual of newer, dialectically constructed data in the field of psychoanalysis and the pertinent disciplines of the humanities (e.g., sociology, literary studies) need to be reflected in how psychoanalysis is taught and how the skills of its therapeutic craft are imparted to young trainees. Such culturally anchored psychoanalytic education will better prepare candidates to function as clinicians with analysands of different racial and cultural backgrounds. And, it will open their eyes to the fact that the “average expectable environment” (Hartmann, 1939) necessary for the development and sustenance of a coherent psychic structure cannot be taken for granted; it varies from culture to culture and is not restricted to parental care but involves variables that are ecological, politico-economic, and “cultural” in nature.
