It's a new year, so why not hop on the couch if you haven't yet experienced the paradoxical luxury and necessity of a four- or five-times-a-week psychoanalysis? Go for a rock-star analyst or choose an eager candidate, a licensed professional who is in training to become an analyst. If cost is paramount, you may be able to get a low fee from a candidate who needs analytic cases to graduate. You can find an established analyst or a promising candidate by asking for the referral service at organizations like Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, the Jungian Institute, The Lacanian School for Psychoanalysis, and others.

I recently ended my own analysis after quite a number of years. With thanks to my analysts, here are a few ways I found my treatment beneficial:

• Greater capacity to withdraw projections
• Expanded range of possibilities in thoughts and actions
• Improved emotional resiliency
• Better developed observing ego
• Decreased impulsivity 
• Diminution of severe superego
• Acceptance of loss and genuine mourning
• Enhanced clinical skills with patients

Your results may vary. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Offer void where prohibited by resistance. Consult an analyst for details.

Cleopatra Victoria, MFT
IMPULSE Editor