Barrier busting is a business term recently used by Amory Lovins*, an energy wizard and CEO of the Rocky Mt. Institute. He is referring to the need for all those concerned with oil consumption and alternative energy to work together towards a solution. I applaud this concept as it relates to psychoanalysis as well. Psychoanalysis needs to bust barriers too.

The richness of this profession is due to the mix of psychoanalysts, some with doctorates and many without. Exclusionary practices are damaging this profession. Case in point: Today I received an invitation to a meeting

NEW PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVES ON PREJUDICE
Making a Difference in Society
A Conference for the Application of Psychoanalysis to Problems in Society
Co Sponsored by the Harry Stack Sullivan Society,
William Alanson White Psychoanalytic Society, and
Contemporary Psychoanalysis

A conference on prejudice that clearly excludes clinical social workers on its program and on its planning committee – people who have earned the right to practice psychoanalysis, and who have made major contributions to this profession – is misguided and divisive.

My hope, in this short essay, is first of all to educate those who are prejudiced against masters level social work psychoanalysts and lay analysts, and secondly, along the same lines, to make a plea that we respect and listen to diverse points of view from different disciplines.