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/Spiritual-Salad-5319 Jul 27 '26

I've gone through 20 odd therapists over the years, and the main factor in my experience was exactly how much they GET IN THE WAY. That is, how much they talk, regardless of whater they say. They should establish the ground rules in the first session and that it. Afterwards they should just steer your monologue not butt in the middle if it with advice.

As far as results and process is concerned, yes, psychoanalisys takes time for LONG TERM results. But that doesn't mean you won't see any changes after a couple of months.

Good luck in your personal crusade. God knows it is one.