Faculty Bibliography

Alexander Stein (see record 2020-41392-003) has written what amounts to an urgent manifesto for psychoanalysts who write, particularly those who write (and, I would add, speak) to the public, exhorting us to use our psychoanalytic gifts,such as they are, for the public good. Psychoanalytic values are at the heart of this activism, even though we rarely talk about them as such. Our values include the idea of the importance of deep listening, of tolerance and understanding across many divides, of the role of emotion in every aspect of life, of the ubiquity of emotional trauma and an understanding of how it shapes not only individual development but that of societies and cultures, and of the fundamental equality of all people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

The CEO is often the most isolated and protected employee in the organization. Few leaders, even veteran CEOs, can do the job without talking to someone about their experiences, which is why most develop a close relationship with a trusted colleague, a confidant to whom they can tell their thoughts and fears. In his work with leaders, the author has found that many CEO-confidant relationships function very well. The confidants keep their leaders' best interests at heart. They derive their gratification vicariously, through the help they provide rather than through any personal gain, and they are usually quite aware that a person in their position can potentially abuse access to the CEO's innermost secrets. Unfortunately, almost as many confidants will end up hurting, undermining, or otherwise exploiting CEOs when the executives are at their most vulnerable. These confidants rarely make the headlines, but behind the scenes they do enormous damage to the CEO and to the organization as a whole. What's more, the leader is often the last one to know when or how the confidant relationship became toxic. The author has identified three types of destructive confidants. The reflector mirrors the CEO, constantly reassuring him that he is the 'fairest CEO of them all.' The insulator buffers the CEO from the organization, preventing critical information from getting in or out. And the usurper cunningly ingratiates himself with the CEO in a desperate bid for power. This article explores how the CEO-confidant relationship plays out with each type of adviser and suggests ways CEOs can avoid these destructive relationships

A psychodynamically informed approach to interviewing in the PES can greatly enhance clinicians' ability to appropriately assess and manage patients. Although psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy as treatments are not appropriate to the emergency setting, the theory and technique that inform them are broadly applicable to all patients. In an age of rapidly proliferating psychopharmacologic approaches, recent major developments in psychodynamic conceptualization and technique are easily overlooked. When coupled with other advances in psychiatry, however, psychodynamic approaches can widen the scope of therapeutic abilities. The psychodynamic perspective can facilitate data gathering, enhance therapeutic alliances and personal safety, aid in treatment, and contribute to psychiatrists' continuing efforts to serve the biopsychosocial needs of all patients