“It's the people of the institute that are with us whenever we are doing our work, silently humming in the background. We are constituted by our colleagues.”

 

Description: Harvey Schwartz welcomes Dr. David Frank, who is a Training and Supervising psychoanalyst at the Psychoanalytic Association of New York (PANY) which is affiliated with the NYU School of Medicine. He is also currently serving as the Director and President of the Board at PANY, which is one of a number of IPA affiliated institutes in New York City. Dr. Frank is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the NYU Langone Health Center, and he is also the Chair of the Medical Center Liaison between PANY and the NYU, Langone Health Center. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the American Association for Psychoanalytic Education (AAPE) and is also a fellow of the American Board for Psychoanalysis.

 

All these activities describe only one aspect of Dr. Frank’s life as a psychoanalyst. Listening to today’s interview enables us to discover additional sides to him. Dr. Frank is an improvising musician - an aptitude that he exercises as the Director of the Institute orienting himself to new circumstances, to new tunes, tensions, and dissonances. Dr. Frank privileges the sense of psychoanalytic community which is the core of his success as a leader.

 

Key takeaways:

[5:40] Dr. Frank resides in New York and he shares his view about the current situation there.

[9:27] Dr. Frank, as Director of the Institute, shares his experience turning it into an online training program.

[13:05] The current moment became the subject of each of the classes.

[14:10] The challenge of keeping the value of the metaphor when there is a real and physical danger.

[15:31] COVID offers an opportunity to re-work all traumas.

[16:10] Candidates are using their own personalities and instincts to be supportive of their patients.

[18:08] The role of supervisors during the pandemic.

[20:01] The support and warmth of belonging to the psychoanalytic community.

[22:53] Psychoanalysis is a discipline and a practice that requires a community.

[23:10] Dr. Frank shares the shifts in his practice.

[25:28] Dr. Frank talks about a case example.

[28:45] Every analysis is different, the relationship between an analyst and an analysand is unique.

[30:09] What sustains Dr. Frank during these difficult times?

 

Mentioned in this episode:

IPA Off the Couch www.ipaoffthecouch.org