Psychoanalytic peregrination VI: "the effect on countertransference of the collapse of civilization"

There is an aspect to countertransference that has not been discussed very much in the literature of psychoanalysis, one that is becoming increasingly important. This centers around the effect on the analyst's countertransference of the deterioration of the culture in which he or she is immersed. I discuss the decline of Western civilization as it is described by a number of contemporary authors in order to show how changes in the value system of the psychoanalyst or his or her turning a blind eye to the injustices and barbarism of the cultural surround both affect the capacity to immerse in the creative process of psychoanalysis, and send a tacit message to the patient about the permissability of hiding certain material. All this contradicts the "fundamental rule" of psychoanalysis, and disturbs the analyst's listening process. The impact of the dumbing down and deterioration of the educational, cultural, and home upbringing milieu of the new generation of psychoanalysts will be profound in influencing the future practice of psychoanalysis.