Leading articles

THE VIENNA PSYCHOANALYST wants to give not only already internationally established psychoanalysts, but also still unknown psychoanalysts the opportunity to post a self-written and not yet published article on the FrontPage of our online magazine!

Our Users then can leave comments, ask questions or discuss the articles in our forum. Our aim is to provide an international platform where for the first time anyone interested in psychoanalysis can exchange ideas on certain topics.
Articles are welcome in German and/ or English.

If you are interested, please send your article to
leadingarticle@theviennapsychoanalyst.at


(For reasons of readability, the male form is used with personal names, however the female form is also always intended.)

In our interview series "in conversation with“, we will briefly present the authors of the leading articles. We want to give our users the opportunity to read the leading article from a different point of view.


This week we are very glad to welcome Gabriele Chorney from Rhode Island, U.S.A:

Education:  
Doctor of Psychoanalysis: Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, 2013
Certified Psychoanalyst: Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, 2013
MA in Psychoanalysis: Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, 2001
BA  in Liberal Arts: Thomas A. Edison State College, 1999                                
Academic Honors:
2014 Gradiva Award Nominee - Student Paper
Professional experience:
Private Practice 2001 - present                                          
Advisor at Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, 2001 to present
Clinical Therapist (Doctoral Candidate)
BGSP -Therapy Center - (2001 -2009)
Master’s Thesis: The Meaning of Food, 2001
Doctoral Dissertation: Intervention as Transference – Countertransference Enactment, 2013



DWP: What brought you to psychoanalysis?

Gabriele Chorney: Back in the 1990’s after having raised two children I was questioning what to do with the “rest of my life”.  My husband and I struggled with supervising our son who tampered with street drugs. In order to afford a meaningful intervention we decided to start family therapy; which acquainted me with my present day analyst. The rest is history. We saved our son and I followed in my analyst’s footsteps to study the very theory that she was applying to our well-being.


DWP: If you had the opportunity to talk with Sigmund Freud, what would be the topic?
Are there any specific questions?

Gabriele Chorney: Yes, I would ask Dr. Freud to become more comfortable with his attitude towards psychosis and take another look at working with the narcissistic transference and pre-verbal character disorders.


DWP: Fabric or leather couch?

Gabriele Chorney: A couch which invites the patient to rest comfortably and affords him to say everything.


DWP: According to Bruno Bettelheim and the importance of fairy tales in childhood. Will you tell us your favorite fairy tale? And do you see parallels to your own adult life?

Gabriele Chorney:: Interesting question; must ponder about it more! My spontaneous answer would be that I have a partial identification with all of them. Fairy tales are cruel and enchanting; and so is life.


DWP: I dream,….

Gabriele Chorney: ….frequently and I often remember their manifest content; which entices me to explore their underlying (latent) meanings.  Dreams are the royal road to our unconscious wishes and fears and I invite them to visit me whenever possible.


DWP: What do you find good or particularly good in psychoanalysis and is there anything you do not like about it?

Gabriele Chorney: I am a modern psychoanalyst following the technique of Dr. Hyman Spotnitz who explored successfully of how to work with psychosis and pre-verbal character disorders. Though I prescribe and believe in this technique I also find it necessary to adjust the frame to the picture and the size of the couch to the patient. There is no one size fits all. Our induced counter-transference feelings will always guide us to the patients’ needs. We must be flexible. Psychoanalysis is an art, applied in the moment at “room temperature”.


DWP: What challenges did you have to face during your analytic training?

Gabriele Chorney: My education at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis was one of the finest. I can recommend this school’s programs to students around the world. The key to success is to remain committed and finish the program with all of its hurdles and emotional ups and downs, no matter how trying it can be at times. Becoming an analyst translates into becoming comfortable with oneself. This takes courage and devotion. I often say “Psychoanalysis is not for Sissies”.


DWP: Do you have a favorite Freud - quote?

Gabriele Chorney: Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.


DWP:  Are there other psychoanalysts, in addition to Sigmund Freud, who you like to study?

Gabriele Chorney: In my sixteen years of studying psychoanalysis at BGSP I have been acquainted with most of the psychoanalytic gurus of our times. The one I favor is Winnicott;  for I am always striving to be “good-enough”.


Thank you very much for this conversation, we are already looking forward to your leading article!