Analysis Quote by Paul Goodman
“Freud pointed out, in his Problem of Lay Analysis, that it is extremely unlikely that a young man who would throw the best years of his life into the cloistered drudgery of getting an M.D. degree, could possibly make a good psychoanalyst; so he preferred to look for young analysts among the writers, the lawyers, the mothers of families, those who had chosen human contact. But in their economic wisdom, the Psychoanalytic Institute of Vienna (and New York) overruled him.”
About This Quote
Freud argued that the skills and empathy needed for psychoanalysis are better cultivated through lived human interaction than through the isolated, technical training of medical school, yet institutions favored the latter.
In simple terms: Human experience outweighs technical training for therapy.
Key Takeaway
Practical empathy beats formal credentials.
Themes
psychology
education
professional training
human interaction
institutional bias
Mood
reflective
critical
thoughtful
Type
observation
analysis
critique
When to use this quote
- selecting therapy candidates
- designing training curricula
- evaluating professional qualifications
- advising career paths
- reforming academic admissions
Key Concepts
psychoanalysis
medical education
human empathy
institutional decision-making
Practical Applications
- recruiting therapists with diverse life experiences
- restructuring psychoanalytic education
Questions to Reflect On
- How does personal experience shape therapeutic ability?
- What are the risks of privileging formal credentials?
![“The Sexual plight of these children [those adolescents experimenting sexually] is officially not mentioned. The revolutionary attack on hypocrisy by Ibsen, Freud, Ellis, Dreiser, did not succeed this far. Is it an eccentric opinion that an important part of the kids' restiveness in school from the…” quote by Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b5b/paul-goodman-7755_american-society_the-sexual-plight-of-these-children-thos_88140.jpg)
