Anne Kristin Rustad (07.06.1948 - 27.02.2022)
Anne Kristin Rustad, a member of the Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society, died at the age of 73. She was an M.D, specialist in child-, adolescent- and adult psychiatry and psychoanalysis, working in private practice at the Psychoanalytic Institute in Oslo.
Anne Kristin Rustad was a great resource in the Norwegian Psychoanalytic Institute and Society being a training analyst, supervisor and teacher working with adults, children and adolescents. As one of the few child analysts in Norway, she worked for decades with child analyses. Anne Kristin told us what led her to work with children was her first clinical experience with psychotic patients admitted to institutions. It made an immense impact on her. The deep pain and suffering she faced inspired and motivated her to understand the unsymbolized and nonverbal. In order to give meaning to the symptoms, one must return to the child and the infant’s development, she argued, to comprehend the suffering of the adult.
Anne Kristin Rustad’s clear analytical thinking, humane approach, sharp intellect and sense of humor had a personal impact on all who knew her. In the seminars, she had the unique combination of being sensitive, deeply serious and playful at the same time. She had a remarkable clinical intuition, theoretical clearness and deep trust in the psychoanalytical method. With courage, she addressed primitive, infantile layers in the human psyche; - take your countertransference seriously, she said.
Her understanding of ‘our adult world and its roots in infancy’ was astonishing. In the seminars, session after session, year after year, we sat together, immersed in theory and clinical thinking. In concentration. Deeply serious. Suddenly laughing. A mild frustration. An outburst in tears. At a fast pace. No one left the seminar groups with Anne Kristin untouched; emotions were welcome and encouraged! Graciously, she conveyed a complex, theoretical framework with clarity and authority. There were no doubts of her technique; the here-and-now-interpretations, to reach the patient on an emotional level and our own body and countertransference as an instrument.
We remember her as a beloved teacher and supervisor. In her spirit and tradition, we continue working. Her voice, mingling with our psychoanalytic ancestors, has become an inner voice, well internalized. She was also a good writer. Among other themes, she wrote about separation, infantile anxiety and working in the countertransference to help the child/patient to tolerate separation and finally accept time, separation and to develop the capacity to think and symbolize. The link to the internal mother must be restored in order to take the third position. Her contribution on technique was groundbreaking.
In grief, we say goodbye to Anne Kristin who taught us about separation, accepting time, grief and loss. She showed us that life can be painful and brutal with illness and death. Even for herself. Anne Kristin Rustad’s own work, authenticity and ability to understand and contain the deepest pain gave us a language. We are using that now.
The child and adolescent psychoanalysis field in Norway has suffered an immense loss. We will never forget Anne Kristin. We remember her with respect and gratitude.
Rest in peace
Child analytical group at the Norwegian Psychoanalytic Institute
Evelina Čiapaitė,
Henrik Kamphus,
Line Reykdal,
Linda Johanne Rolfsen,
Ingeborg Aarseth