THE ARTICLES

In “A Primer for Psychotherapy Patients,” the reader is guided through the therapy process in a Question and Answer format. Question: “I’m determined to get in-depth, long-term, reconstructive psychoanalytic psychotherapy, but I don’t want to pay a lot of money. What’s the least expensive way to achieve this?” Answer: “You’d probably expect an answer along the lines of, ‘Many psychoanalytic training institutes have analysts-in-training who can provide perfectly adequate therapeutic services for reduced fees. In fact, these analysts-in-training are supervised by very experienced senior analysts.’ But that’s not the answer you’re going to get here. Has either of your parents ever been in therapy? If so, that’s the answer: go see his or her prior therapist. After all, if he or she has already provided the basic info about you, your other parent, and your siblings, and has spent lots of money doing so, look how much time and money you’ve saved by not having to rehash the same old material. You can just jump in and start blaming your parents immediately. (And, if the therapist did not particularly like your parent, there’s an added benefit in that you will start off with automatic empathy from your new therapist!)” In “Behavioral Disorders of the Scalp,” the author warns that “Any psychostylist will be vulnerable to impulses to rescue clients unless the psychostylist acknowledges that the hairing-impaired suffer from a permanent disability.”