New challenges and opportunities for the practice of psychoanalytic work in the new reality of the coronavirus pandemic

Psychoanalytical psychotherapy

Abstract

In recent years, we have faced challenges that, perhaps, we have not faced for a long time. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way of life, habits, pace of life, actualized those topics that previously did not seem so significant. These changes have also affected those areas that previously seemed unshakable. This also applies to psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic therapy. For the first time in a long time, psychoanalytic communities began to rebuild the format and techniques. For example, the International Psychoanalytic Association, for thefirst time allowed online psychoanalysis under certain conditions. In addition, the period of uncertainty and protracted crisis has actualized and highlighted new topics that were previously little available for study. And the theme of crisis and loss has become dominant not only in psychoanalytic therapy, but also in coaching consultations. In this article, I would like to consider in detail how the pandemic affected the changes in the format of the work of psychologists, psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic coaches; how the format of the session changed, and what coaches and psychoanalysts had to face in their work.