Some capacities required to be a psychoanalytic psychotherapist

The capacities required to be a helpful psychoanalytic psychotherapist include those required for any meaningful interpersonal relationship that involves the deepest thoughts and feelings between two people, where one is committed to always putting first the best interests of the other. This paper discusses seven of those capacities: (1) the capacity for empathie technical flexibility; (2) the capacity to be childlike; (3)the capacity for psychological mindedness and insight; (4) the capacity to be neutral but not anonymous; (5) the capacity to recognize, articulate, bear and experience feelings within the session; (6) the capacity to be silent; and (7) the capacity to regress in the service of therapy. Each of these capacities is discussed within the context of practical aspects of delivering psychotherapy.