Summer 2001 - IP; On the Lighter Side

New York State Bans Psychoanalysis/Martin H. Williams

On the Lighter Side: New York State Bans Psychoanalysis

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Martin H. Williams, Ph.D.

News Story:

Colorado to outlaw “rebirthing” therapies

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

SECTION1. Legislative declaration - short title. (1)The use of any therapy to reenact the birthing process in a manner that includes restraint and creates a situation in which a patient may suffer physical injury or death is inappropriate and detrimental to the safety and health of patients. Therefore, the general assembly finds, determines, and declares that any therapy techniques for the rebirthing process are not in the best interests of Coloradans and should not be used as a therapeutic treatment.

Well, you know how monkey-see, monkey-do those state legislatures can be. It wasn’t long before the State of New York, home of more cab drivers and psychoanalysts than anywhere on earth, passed its own law. The law was inspired by one Moishe Pipik, a lifelong analysand, and son of a state assemblyman. Mr. Pipik went broke trying to pay for treatment, and, due to unresolved and intractable transference, never married because “my heart belongs to my analyst, Dr. Fershlugginer.” Would Mr. Pipik, an obsessive-compulsive whose room was decorated with bus transfers, ever have married anyway? Who knows, but the legislature was hysterical and took swift action.

The New York Law was short and sweet, like an impulsive outburst of acting-out. It read:

The theory and practice of Psychoanalysis shall be illegal in the State of New York, not to mention the warded off State of Connecticut, over which, like the unconscious, we legislators have no control.

Reaction was swift. Real estate moguls began building all-penthouse office buildings at the far end of the Holland Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge, as analysts fled the city. Ft. Lee New Jersey—the “other end” of the George Washington Bridge—began to be called “Little Vienna” by some. Rumor had it that Woody Allen was so disgusted he was planning to move to either South Dakota or Wyoming, where personal freedom was respected and the practice of analysis was thriving—or at least not illegal.

APA Divisions 29, 39 and 42 were beside themselves trying to figure out how this happened, but the answer was clear: The legislature had been besieged by former analysands telling one horror story after another until Freud’s method began to appear to be more abusive than those humiliating public weighings at Weight Watchers.

Those testifying included one Hyman Mishkindler who was among many who told tales of chronic back pain induced by hour after hour of lying on the couch. As Mr. Mishkindler stated: “It got so I could feel every spring and every decorative button that had been sewn onto that thing. Lying down, even reclining on the subway, filled me with fear that I would be compelled to remain lying down for the next 50 minutes or be accused of acting out. Now I see a physical therapist five times a week and am beginning to finally get somewhere.”

Then there were the stories of traumatic reactions that occurred when analysands merely heard people talking. Sadie Knadles told the following tale: “I became so accustomed to my analyst reacting to me with silence, it gradually became the only thing I was comfortable with. Anytime I was outside the analytic hour, I would yell at people, ‘Why aren’t you listening to me?’ anytime they’d dare to interrupt my monologue.” The last straw for Ms. Knadles was when she yelled at her dry cleaner, “Stop interrupting, I may be coming up with more material if you’d only shut up.” The dry cleaner had merely said, “This will be ready on Thursday.” Surely, with stories of this kind of adverse traumatic reaction, the legislature had to do something.

Some analysts simply got out of the business. Dr. Myron Afikomen is now selling hot dogs on Central Park West, while his office partner, Dr. Ephriam Pesach, fulfilled his lifelong dream to become a barber. “For years people have been telling me how much they love to talk with their barbers. I can see why. I love it. Not only am I free to respond—even argue—but now and then I get a tip. What do I know about cutting hair? Listen, who needs to know? With the styles these days, what do you have to know?”

For those who had for years devoted themselves to analytic work, the most painful part was the public “couch burnings.” Hoards of former patients gathered to celebrate mass burnings of the one, distinctive piece of psychoanalytic furniture. Lurking in the background as several couches were publicly set on fire, one analyst observed, “It’s as if they are burning the Oedipal bed.” Unfortunately for him, a police officer was within earshot and cited him for “practicing psychoanalysis in the State of New York.” The good news was that a fee wasn’t collected, so the charges were reduced to creating a public nuisance.

Meanwhile, some psychoanalysts attempted to skirt the law by renaming what they did. Terms such as Psycho-Listening, EMDR-Analysis, and CBTA (Cognitive Behavior Therapy-Analysis) were promulgated as the hard-core analysts attempted to semantically steer clear of the statute. Others actually changed what they did to make sure they were in compliance. As Dr. Leif Nygaard, well-known Park Avenue analyst pointed out, even violating a single rule of analysis renders it non-analytic and, hence, perfectly legal. Thus, Dr. Nygaard developed a habit of always offering advice and opinion in reaction to each and every statement his analysands made. For example, when a patient would say, “I am aware of the urge to go up to my boss and throw a pizza in his face to show him he can’t degrade me like my father did,” Dr. Nygaard, setting aside his years of analytic training would reply, “Wow! What a rude way to act!” Thusfar, Dr. Nygaard has remained free to practice his new form of treatment. He complains, however, that transference takes far longer to develop in the evaluative environment that he creates.

As tragic as this has been for the analytic community, some have perceived a bright side. Things have finally come full circle, many observed. “We started as outcasts, then became the establishment, and now again we are outcasts,” was the commonly heard refrain. Students at NYU, Fordham and Columbia were taking money they had saved to buy Ecstasy and were spending it on underground psychoanalytic sessions. Analysts secret offices were overflowing with artists, students and intellectuals. Analyst Myron Plotz was observed on the corner of 7th Avenue and 57th Street saying, “Before we were the parents, behind the locked door of the bedroom. Now we are with the children, finally enjoying the fun of life.” As you might expect, he was overheard by one of New York’s Finest and led away in handcuffs. Gevalt!

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On the Lighter Side: New York State Bans Psychoanalysis
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Martin H. Williams, Ph.D.	News Story: Colorado to outlaw “rebirthing” therapies Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION1. Legislative declaration - short title. (1)The use of any therapy to reenact the birthing process in a manner that includes restraint and creates a situation in which a patient may suffer physical injury or death is inappropriate and detrimental to the safety and health of patients. Therefore, the general assembly finds, determines, and declares that any therapy techniques for the rebirthing process are not in the best interests of Coloradans and should not be used as a therapeutic treatment. Well, you know how monkey-see, monkey-do those state legislatures can be. It wasn’t long before the State of New York, home of more cab drivers and psychoanalysts than anywhere on earth, passed its own law. The law was inspired by one Moishe Pipik, a lifelong analysand, and son of a state assemblyman. Mr. Pipik went broke trying to pay for treatment, and, due to unresolved and intractable transference, never married because “my heart belongs to my analyst, Dr. Fershlugginer.” Would Mr. Pipik, an obsessive-compulsive whose room was decorated with bus transfers, ever have married anyway? Who knows, but the legislature was hysterical and took swift action. The New York Law was short and sweet, like an impulsive outburst of acting-out. It read: The theory and practice of Psychoanalysis shall be illegal in the State of New York, not to mention the warded off State of Connecticut, over which, like the unconscious, we legislators have no control. Reaction was swift. Real estate moguls began building all-penthouse office buildings at the far end of the Holland Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge, as analysts fled the city. Ft. Lee New Jersey—the “other end” of the George Washington Bridge—began to be called “Little Vienna” by some. Rumor had it that Woody Allen was so disgusted he was planning to move to either South Dakota or Wyoming, where personal freedom was respected and the practice of analysis was thriving—or at least not illegal. APA Divisions 29, 39 and 42 were beside themselves trying to figure out how this happened, but the answer was clear: The legislature had been besieged by former analysands telling one horror story after another until Freud’s method began to appear to be more abusive than those humiliating public weighings at Weight Watchers. Those testifying included one Hyman Mishkindler who was among many who told tales of chronic back pain induced by hour after hour of lying on the couch. As Mr. Mishkindler stated: “It got so I could feel every spring and every decorative button that had been sewn onto that thing. Lying down, even reclining on the subway, filled me with fear that I would be compelled to remain lying down for the next 50 minutes or be accused of acting out. Now I see a physical therapist five times a week and am beginning to finally get somewhere.” Then there were the stories of traumatic reactions that occurred when analysands merely heard people talking. Sadie Knadles told the following tale: “I became so accustomed to my analyst reacting to me with silence, it gradually became the only thing I was comfortable with. Anytime I was outside the analytic hour, I would yell at people, ‘Why aren’t you listening to me?’ anytime they’d dare to interrupt my monologue.” The last straw for Ms. Knadles was when she yelled at her dry cleaner, “Stop interrupting, I may be coming up with more material if you’d only shut up.” The dry cleaner had merely said, “This will be ready on Thursday.” Surely, with stories of this kind of adverse traumatic reaction, the legislature had to do something. Some analysts simply got out of the business. Dr. Myron Afikomen is now selling hot dogs on Central Park West, while his office partner, Dr. Ephriam Pesach, fulfilled his lifelong dream to become a barber. “For years people have been telling me how much they love to talk with their barbers. I can see why. I love it. Not only am I free to respond—even argue—but now and then I get a tip. What do I know about cutting hair? Listen, who needs to know? With the styles these days, what do you have to know?” For those who had for years devoted themselves to analytic work, the most painful part was the public “couch burnings.” Hoards of former patients gathered to celebrate mass burnings of the one, distinctive piece of psychoanalytic furniture. Lurking in the background as several couches were publicly set on fire, one analyst observed, “It’s as if they are burning the Oedipal bed.” Unfortunately for him, a police officer was within earshot and cited him for “practicing psychoanalysis in the State of New York.” The good news was that a fee wasn’t collected, so the charges were reduced to creating a public nuisance. Meanwhile, some psychoanalysts attempted to skirt the law by renaming what they did. Terms such as Psycho-Listening, EMDR-Analysis, and CBTA (Cognitive Behavior Therapy-Analysis) were promulgated as the hard-core analysts attempted to semantically steer clear of the statute. Others actually changed what they did to make sure they were in compliance. As Dr. Leif Nygaard, well-known Park Avenue analyst pointed out, even violating a single rule of analysis renders it non-analytic and, hence, perfectly legal. Thus, Dr. Nygaard developed a habit of always offering advice and opinion in reaction to each and every statement his analysands made. For example, when a patient would say, “I am aware of the urge to go up to my boss and throw a pizza in his face to show him he can’t degrade me like my father did,” Dr. Nygaard, setting aside his years of analytic training would reply, “Wow! What a rude way to act!” Thusfar, Dr. Nygaard has remained free to practice his new form of treatment. He complains, however, that transference takes far longer to develop in the evaluative environment that he creates. As tragic as this has been for the analytic community, some have perceived a bright side. Things have finally come full circle, many observed. “We started as outcasts, then became the establishment, and now again we are outcasts,” was the commonly heard refrain. Students at NYU, Fordham and Columbia were taking money they had saved to buy Ecstasy and were spending it on underground psychoanalytic sessions. Analysts secret offices were overflowing with artists, students and intellectuals. Analyst Myron Plotz was observed on the corner of 7th Avenue and 57th Street saying, “Before we were the parents, behind the locked door of the bedroom. Now we are with the children, finally enjoying the fun of life.” As you might expect, he was overheard by one of New York’s Finest and led away in handcuffs. Gevalt!
++	++ Discuss this and other articles at the IP Chat Discussion Board