Full application for DPPT funding
Project title: Securing psychoanalysis in the public health sector
Applicants: The five Nordic psychoanalytic societies
Project Leader:
Sverre Varvin, President of the Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society,
sverre.varvin@nkvts.unirand.no
Key participants:
Sverre Varvin, Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society
Bent Rosenbaum, President of the Danish Psychoanalytic Society
Anneli Mark-Orbinski, President of the Swedish Psychoanalytic Association
Alexandra Billinghurst, President of the Swedish Psychoanalytic Society
Stig Hägglund, President of the Finish Psychoanalytic Society
Aim of project
To secure psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic derived treatments as part of the public health services.
This project is a collaborative project between: The Danish Psychoanalytic Society, the Finnish Psychoanalytic Society, the Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society, the Swedish psychoanalytic Society and the Swedish Psychoanalytic Association.
The project will secure the basis of psychoanalytic education in the Nordic countries, make proper psychoanalysis available for the general public and secure a continuous recruitment of candidates for psychoanalytic educations. This will also be beneficial for the process of securing and in some places reintegrating psychoanalysis in the universities in the education of medical and psychological students.
Background
Psychoanalysis has had firm position within the socialised mental health care in the Nordic countries, although with some differences between the countries. Psychoanalysts have played an important role as therapists, as teachers in the state organised legitimation of psychotherapists and in psychotherapy institutions, and as organisers of mental health institutions. Psychoanalysis has also had a position within the education of psychiatrists and psychologists both at the universities and in the postgraduate educations.
This position of psychoanalysis has been in decline the last years and is seriously threatened today.
There is thus a need for the psychoanalytic societies to prepare for new situations in which there will be a demand to justify psychoanalysis both as a treatment method and as a way of understanding mental problems and illnesses that is important for the mental health care of the general population.
This calls for a collaborative effort of the Nordic societies in order to jointly:
1. Discuss the common and different problems in the Nordic countries.
2. Built up arguments to be used in relations to the governments in order to convince of the benefits of psychoanalysis.
3. Develop strategies on how to relate to the governments in order to secure funding of psychoanalytic treatments and justification of psychoanalytic knowledge as important for the treatment of any mental illnesses.
4. To develop a network for psychoanalytic research in the Nordic countries that both can develop research on psychoanalysis and disseminate research findings for the benefit of clinicians and for the justification of psychoanalytic treatments.
All four points will alone and altogether enhance the interest in psychoanalysis among future possible candidates and give them legitimate reasons for applying at the institutes for psychoanalytic training.
Method.
1. Establishing a Nordic working group consisting of clinicians and psychoanalytic researchers;
2. Implementing a Nordic conference for the purpose of developing this project;
3. Based on the results of the conference, developing a working book on strategies for the argumentation directed to the governments on the importance of psychoanalysis;
4. Develop strategies for raising interest in young psychiatrists and psychologists for a proper psychoanalytic education.
5. Spreading knowledge on research in psychoanalysis, especially on its efficiency towards psychic suffering in the general public.
Practical implementation and time schedule
1. Setting up a working group (June-August 2008).
2. Implementation of a Nordic 2-days conference (ultimo 2008).
3. Consultations with experts on health insurance and state organised health services.
4. Outlining a working document to be used by the Nordic Psychoanalytic societies (winter and spring 2009).
5. Writing articles and giving interviews for the media, submitting papers to Nordic journals, etc. to spread knowledge on the efficiency and importance of psychoanalysis (spring and summer 2009).
6. Evaluating and reporting of results (autumn and winter 2009).
Measuring results
1. Measuring maintenance, improvement/deterioration of health insurance financed psychoanalytic treatments.
2. Measuring maintenance, improvement/deterioration of financial support for psychoanalytic education/psychoanalytic institutes.
3. Measuring number of applicants for psychoanalytic education in the Nordic societies.
4. Measuring number of patients applying for and coming into psychoanalytic treatments (this work has been started in the Norwegian psychoanalytical Society).
Dissemination of results
1. Interviews and articles in newspapers in the Nordic countries as described. Journalists will be invited to parts of the conference. (See .4 above).
2. Results will be described for the psychoanalytic community by articles on EPF web, IPA web and by presentations on psychoanalytic conferences.
Budget
Meeting for twenty persons (five from each Nordic country) at a 2 days conference ultimo 2008, travel expenses and accommodation $ 20.000
Financial means (50% of the budget) will be applied from The Nordic Ministers Council and the research council in the country in which the conference will take place.
(No IPA members participating in the project will receive a fee.)
Applied from the DPPT $ 10.000
Thursday 17. July, 2008
Sverre Varvin, Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society
Bent Rosenbaum, President of the Danish Psychoanalytic Society
Anneli Mark-Orbinski, President of the Swedish Psychoanalytic Association
Alexandra Billinghurst, President of the Swedish Psychoanalytic Society
Stig Hägglund, President of the Finish Psychoanalytic Society
