The Millennial Turn in Psychoanalysis

Abstract

Cultural changes that take place over time lead to shifts in our understanding of psychopathology, leading to revisions in our theories and techniques of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Shaped by the seismic changes in the culture that took place during their childhood years, millennials grew up with life experiences that were different from the previous generations. These unique experiences led to different problems in living for millennials. Who is the millennial patient and what does the millennial patient need from the analyst? These questions are examined. Clinical and training implications are explored and illustrated with case examples.

Keywords:

• Millennial generation
• cultural shifts
• analytic technique
• training
• creation of the external

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sumru Tufekcioglu

Sumru Tufekcioglu, PhD is a Clinical Psychologist, Psychoanalyst, and faculty at the William Alanson White Institute. She is a faculty member at Mount Sinai Morningside and West Hospitals in the Psychiatry Residency Program where she is the recipient of the 2019 Teacher of the Year Award. She is an Executive Editor of the journal Contemporary Psychoanalysis. She is President-Elect of APsaA’s Candidates’ Council and a member of the grant committee, the Fund for Psychoanalytic Research of ApsaA. She has authored papers and book chapters on the topics of complex trauma, personality disorders, therapeutic alliance, case formulation, and therapist self-disclosure. Dr. Tufekcioglu is in private practice in New York City.