To Reveal or Not to Reveal, That Is the Wrong Question: Thoughts about Clinical Writing in Psychoanalysis

Abstract

This paper plays with the possibilities of writing about psychoanalytic work in different ways with different levels of disclosure about both patient and analyst. Various issues around anonymity, confidentiality, consent and identity are explored, highlighting the many questions that come up. These issues of how to write psychoanalytically are also addressed from the point of view of culture and the sociopolitical gestalt of our time.

Keywords:

• Writing
• anonymity
• confidentiality
• consent
• culture
• disclosure

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Resolutions of the APsA Board of Directors approved Sunday, March 26, 2023, as reported by Kerry Sulcowicz on Mar 27, 2023, 7:27 PM on the APsaA listserv.

2 In this article, I have italicized the paragraphs where I am either (1) pondering something directly about the patient (2) quoting from our interactions or (3) describing what happened in the past when I presented the case.

3 Although his arguments are only about the first three.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gurmeet S. Kanwal

Gurmeet S. Kanwal is as Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Teaching Faculty and Supervising Psychoanalyst at the William Alanson White Institute.