On the psychoanalytic training system

Journal title PSICOTERAPIA E SCIENZE UMANE
Author/s Michael Balint
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/3
Language Italian Pages 20 P. 373-392 File size 340 KB
DOI 10.3280/PU2026-003003
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Psychoanalytic training is examined and seen as a neglected yet decisive problem for the future of psychoanalysis. It is argued that, despite its centrality, psychoanalytic training has generated little serious literature and has been governed by rigid, often unexamined rules. Reconstructing the history of the training institutes and of the International Training Committee, two pathological features are identified: inhibition of open discussion, and a pervasive dogmatism concerning the length, structure, and supervision of training analysis. In this view, the training system functions like an initiation ritual: rather than fostering a strong, critical ego, it encourages submission to authority, conformist identification with the training analyst, and the formation of a rigid superego. This tendency is seen as linked to the effort to prevent schisms within the Freudian movement through discipline and loyalty. Therefore, there is a strong need for a radical revision of psychoanalytic training in order to foster intellectual freedom, critical independence, and less authoritarianism.

Keywords: Psychoanalytic training; Training analysis; Supervision; Dogmatism; Superego

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Michael Balint, Il sistema didattico in psicoanalisi (1947) in "PSICOTERAPIA E SCIENZE UMANE" 3/2026, pp 373-392, DOI: 10.3280/PU2026-003003