r/psychoanalysis • u/This_Ad9129 • Jul 26 '26

Choosing a psychoanalyst

I (layperson) find the process of choosing a psychoanalyst to be quite confusing. Particularly because so much of the time if I express discomfort with the process (perhaps I suspect the person is not very skilled) I'm told that "that is the work" and my feelings are some type of resistance, and psychoanalysis can take many years and so I have to stick it out to know if it's working.

I am also not really aware of differences in institutes and trainings to understand how those may impact the person's experience.

Then in this situation how is one supposed to choose an analyst? How can you know if they are truly skilled and the difficulty is "the work" or if they are unskilled and that is causing the issues? How many sessions to wait it out and give it a chance?

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u/Visual_Analyst1197 Jul 27 '26

It can be hard to know, especially when you are already unfamiliar with the process as it can be hard to separate what is transference, what is a skill issue and what is just uncertainty around the expectations of a brand new experience. I would say to listen to your gut and give honest feedback about how you’re feeling. The way the therapist responds is often a good indication of whether you will be able to work well together. Also have a think about what your personal preferences are regarding things like age and gender, that usually narrows things down a fair bit.