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Psychoanalytic psychotherapy and its supervision via videoconference: experience, questions and dilemmas*

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Abstract

The patient lives in Berlin, the therapist in Lisbon and the supervisor in Budapest. Not long ago, continuous psychotherapy and supervision would have been impossible in such a setting. Nowadays, modern communication technologies via the Internet create new possibilities for patients, therapists, and supervisors. However, when we engage in psychoanalytic practice via modern means of telecommunication, we need to examine if the fundamental tenets of the psychoanalytic process are preserved. We need to think about initial assessment, about how we arrange the setting, how we work with transference and countertransference, what kinds of new forms of resistance we are facing and, indeed, how we can recognize new phenomena and handle inevitable problems. In this clinical paper, we tackle these questions in the context of three-times-a-week psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

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Correspondence to Csongor Juhos.

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Csongor Juhos, Ph.D. is affiliated with the ISPA-Instituto Universitário, Lisbon, and a candidate at the Portuguese Psychoanalytical Society; as well as President of the Free Association.

Judit Mészáros, Ph.D. is affiliated with the Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest; and a Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst at the Hungarian Psychoanalytical Society; as well as President of the Sándor Ferenczi Society.

Address correspondence to: Csongor Juhos, Ph.D., ISPA, Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041, Lisbon, Portugal.

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Juhos, C., Mészáros, J. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy and its supervision via videoconference: experience, questions and dilemmas*. Am J Psychoanal 79, 555–576 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-019-09220-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-019-09220-3

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