Psychoanalysis in Medicine

Book excerpt: This book shows how contemporary psychoanalytic thinking can be applied in the everyday practice of medicine to enhance the practice of family medicine and all clinical specialties. Dr. Steinberg analyzes his writings over the past 35 years—on psychiatry and family medicine, liaison psychiatry, and mentoring—based on developments in psychoanalytic thinking. Divided into sections based on different venues of medical practice, including family medicine clinics, inpatient medical and surgical units, and psychiatric inpatient units and outpatient programs, chapters illustrate how various concepts in psychoanalysis can enhance physicians’ understanding and management of their patients. A concluding section contains applications of psychoanalytic thought in non-clinical areas pertinent to medicine, including preventing suicide among physicians, residents, and medical students, sexual abuse of patients by physicians, and oral examination anxiety in physicians. Readers will learn to apply psychoanalytic concepts with a rational approach that enhances their understanding and management of their patients and practice of medicine generally.