Hope and Cure

Some analysts feel daunted or pessimistic when working with a patient who recounts an experience of parent/child incest. Can psychoanalysis succeed as a treatment for individuals who suffered this heinous abuse in their formative years? The answer is a definitive yes, according to David Dietrich and Marvin Margolis, who assemble the detailed case studies of leading analysts in the area of incest treatment. Each case is a qualitative report of psychoanalytic research that focuses on the treatment as a whole, not merely one or two aspects of it. However, what is perhaps the most important element of these studies is the rich post-analytic follow-up material that the contributors have obtained, which provides insights into the lives of the patients in the years subsequent to their treatment and hence the efficacy of the treatments themselves. Taking these case studies individually or altogether, we are able to learn the strengths and limitations of treating these patients analytically, what kinds of unique problems and challenges we face employing analytic therapy with them, and what positive, life-altering effects we can hope to facilitate for them.