Survey of Psychoanalytic Practice 1976; Some Trends and Implications

Daniel Jaffe opened the panel with an introduction, historical background, and overview. He pointed out that as this century moves into its final quarter we are faced with the increasingly urgent task of assessing the role that psychoanalysis as a therapy is likely to play in our society. From mid-century on, efforts to this end within our national organization have been directed toward gathering data on a large scale. The first such major undertaking was begun in 1952, when the Central Fact Gathering Committee was appointed. A first questionnaire provided information on about 10,000 patients, mainly listing vital statistics, previous treatment, presenting symptoms, diagnosis, and prospective treatment. It was intended that a final questionnaire would be returned as the treatment of these patients was completed or stopped, with information about the duration of treatment and results. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons,. fewer analysts gave follow-up reports, and information was finally available on only 3,000 patients. This loss of follow-up data led ultimately to a report early in 1967, rendered by a committee headed by David Hamburg, detailing the entire background and the rather disappointing results of the project (see This Journal, 15:841-861). In 1966 another survey (known as the 1966-1968 Biograph-