Section V:
Applied Clinical Psychoanalysis

Section V was established within Division 39 to represent and foster diversity and pluralism in psychoanalysis through a varied program of professional activities.

We think that psychotherapy practice which recognizes the unconscious (that is, meaning and motivation which are outside of awareness), honors the importance of the developmental history of the individual, and makes use of an exploration of the relationship between the therapist and the patient is psychoanalytic.

We think that psychoanalysis should be a discipline of inquiry not an orthodoxy of belief. That is, that our work, on both the theoretical and the clinical level, is distinguished by the questions being asked and not by the answers which may seem to have been found. We believe that answers are inevitably provisional. Our programs, essay contests, website discussions, CE program, panels and lectures are informed by this worldview.

We see psychoanalytically informed practice as a vital protection against the assaults on inner life and individual spirit that have come as a consequence of the industrialization of health care and of psychotherapy in particular.

We think that being a psychoanalyst is a matter less of curriculum vitae than of worldview. It is our mission to both defend and extend this worldview.

Section Officers

  • David Downing, President

  • Ghislaine Boulanger, PhD, Section Representative

  • Barry Dauphin, Treasurer

  • Robert Prince, Secretary

Section Awards

2010 Biennial Section V Student Essay Award

Amy Blume-Marcovici for her essay "Id of the Garden: A Case Study"