CCP has become a vital hub for the broader psychoanalytic community in Chicago,
sponsoring public lecture series, study groups, and a thriving fellowship program offered to clinicians and graduate students.
About Psychoanalysis |
Some of the guiding ideas of psychoanalysis — the importance of the process of development; the presence and workings of the unconscious; the expressive power of dreams; the contributions of fantasy and creativity — were first explored and systematized, if not exactly discovered, a hundred years ago by Sigmund Freud. Insights about the ways in which people distance themselves from painful thoughts and feelings, repeat old relationship patterns, and prevent themselves from fulfilling their desires and ambitions, form the cornerstones of psychoanalytic theory and practice to this day. Other theorists and mental health workers, intrigued by Freud’s ideas, have created modifications and extensions of the original theory, each emphasizing a different modification of the original ideas. Current psychoanalysis is a lively amalgam of theory, research and practice that is becoming more complex, deep, and effective with each passing year. Psychoanalysis is different from other forms of psychotherapy on the basis, among other parameters, of the training of its practitioners, the frequency of sessions, and the use of the couch. To undertake a psychoanalysis requires a significant time commitment from both analyst and analysand (patient). Most psychoanalysts also work with individuals in psychotherapy, guided by the same principles but with less investment of time and expense. Many analysands begin their treatments in psychotherapy and shift into psychoanalysis as they begin to see both the benefits and limitations of their original treatment arrangements. |