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Chapter Three – Research methods and their use - Page 110
In clinical psychoanalysis, linked to the previous point about the need for reflective
space, it is crucial that there is the capacity to open the psychoanalytic encounter to
other views, especially when the intersubjective load on the analytic relationship is so
great as to threaten the collapse of that relationship, or at least of the ‘thirdness’. At the
same time, intrusion, even in fantasy, of others into the analytic relationship can be
extremely destructive to that relationship. For these purposes, it is important to
recognise that the analytic process is one that goes on well beyond the period of contact
between therapist and patient, if not over a whole lifespan. Knowledge of others who
may be involved as supervisors or consultants can seriously disturb the process. Hence,
to obtain consent to discuss clinical material with others, and to check the ‘accuracy’ of
that material, can risk the therapeutic value of extensive and intensive therapeutic work.
In research such as this project, the risks are slightly different but related. Ethically, I
must obviously obtain informed consent. The participants (students and fellow tutors)
are part of my own small professional community, so the need for confidentiality is as
great as ever. Despite their collegial position, I am inevitably dealing with defended
subjects. My solution is to blur details in any writing or presentation as much as I am
able, and to be extremely cautious in my writing and presenting for publication. I have
been trained as a psychologist to communicate with the media as though a group of
colleagues were present, and I need to write with internal witnesses present, balancing
the challenge to be as truthful as I can about my analysis and interpretation of what I
present whilst protecting the privacy of my participants and my prior and continuing
relationship with them.
Concerning veracity, related to the notion of validity in quantitative research, this is a
challenge to this type of study, which relies largely on inter-subjective processes.