ABSTRACT
Rosemary H. Balsam, FRCPsych, MRCP, first trained in medicine and psychiatry in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Yale Medical School, staff member of the Department of Student Mental Health and Counseling there, and training analyst at the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis. Dr Balsam makes a distinction between helping the mother to mentalize her experience and mentalizing for her. This reflects a bit of a sea change in how we think about the analyst’s task. Dr Balsam uses the term “mentalize” to mean paying attention to what’s going on in one’s mind, rather than simply reacting. It’s being self-reflective. Dr Balsam describes how thoughtfully her husband engaged with his patients when he became terminally ill, and how she handled her own cancer. In such circumstances, it is at times difficult for psychoanalysts to let go, and it is not uncommon for some to keep practising when they are very ill.
