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LBS-CRIAEAU :An article called "Why psychoanalysts must be excluded from the courts" was published on October 2nd 2019 in the French magazine Nouvel Observateur on October 22nd 2019. It asked that psychoanalysis be banned from the public sphere and also required that researchers and professors who make reference to psychoanalyst’s work no longer be recruited by universities
Deeply shocked by these remarks, the members of the European Inter-University Seminar on Teaching and Research in Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis (SIUEERPP) asked the Nouvel Observateur for the opportunity to reply, which was granted to them on November 1st. For the SIUEERPP, it was not a question of presenting a scientific argument (which had no place here and was widely discussed elsewhere, in ad hoc books and publications) or a point by point refutation of the article (there was insufficient space for such an exercise either). The goal was to respond to a discourse of excommunication from an opposing standpoint, calling for critical thinking, tolerance, plurality and a scientific ethos that can make a distinction between opinion and reflection.
This issue goes far beyond the "disciplinary" framework of psychoanalysis alone.
The answer is transcribed below. It was initially signed by 11 members of the SIUEERPP Bureau, followed by 35 other colleagues among its members.
In order to allow for a wider support of this counter-argument and give it the space it deserves, we open this petition to the public.
"We" want to exclude psychoanalysis from the public sphere
This willingness is not new. It follows a method already used in 2004 when a report on the evaluation of psychotherapies was published, which had been the basis for a similar request for the exclusion of psychoanalysis. (We wish to point out, for those who are unaware, that the crude methodological biases of this report were immediately demonstrated and its conclusions - if indeed they could justify anything - were rejected long ago, and this is corroborated by the most recent studies in the field).
Such methods of discourse are regularly used to assign inept speeches and positions to psychoanalysts (regarding autism, among other subjects), positions that are definitely not theirs and and serve no other function than to stigmatize them.
Finally, this approach is used under the guise of a scientific authority that some believe to be exclusively theirs to hold, hence giving them the right to insult and show contempt ("obscurantism", "sectarianism", "their qualification - when they have one") towards those whose work they obviously ignore.
What to answer? That such a discourse and procedure that claims science as its ultimate guarantee is anything but scientific since it does not seek debate but rather to investigate an ideological process with strong hints of inquisition. It simply seeks to condemn, to exclude and to obtain what must be labelled as some form of purification. Ultimately, these are only insults to thought and reason.
How is it that we have ended up finding ourselves in such a position?Is this a sign of the times? That we can now confound ideological statements with scientific rigour with impunity?
And what deep hatred is all this the mark of? This subject has already been explored countless times, let us not go back to it. Let us simply underline, instead, that each return of the discourse that staged it is also an indication of a specific issue. In this case, that of power games within the "psychology" section of the National Council of Universities (CNU). A scientific issue, then? No, unfortunately not. And, to be honest, not a political one either. A purely tactical issue, quite simply....
This dimension is obviously not the right one. It is important to not be trapped in it. To not accept that essential social issues be reduced to mere power manoeuvres. Invoking moral duty, as was done in this forum on October 22nd, implies its corollary: that a certain code of ethics must be respected. In this case, to not inconsiderately call for a witch hunt in a context where modesty is essential, where the diversity of knowledge and practices constitutes the best guarantee of care or expertise for everyone: patients, families and loved ones.
If we wish to become the guardians of science and health, this implies in return that we do not ignore the duty to which we are bound, including the means of expression we use when discussing our professional views. Let us not be both judge and jury. And let us avoid preaching excommunication so lightly.