Honoring the Classical Tradition in Supervision: Interview with Martin S. Bergmann, PhD

Abstract

Jill Choder-Goldman interviews Martin S. Bergmann, PhD, toward the end of his life for his insights about the supervisory process from a classically oriented perspective. Dr. Bergmann was concerned with helping the supervisee break through the manifest content to lead the patient to a deeper understanding of himself or herself. For him, the success of treatment depends on the ability of the therapist to awaken the patient’s curiosity about his or her own psychological processes.

Keywords:

• classical
• countertransference
• Freud
• good hour
• interpretation
• manifest content

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jill Choder-Goldman

Martin S. Bergmann, PhD, (Februaury 15, 1913–January 22, 2014) At his death, Dr. Bergmann was an adjunct clinical professor of psychology in the postdoctoral program in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy at New York University, where he had taught for many years. Mr. Bergmann also maintained a private psychoanalytic practice, although, in a concession to his age, he had scaled it back to about 30 hours a week.

A Freudian, he wrote countless articles and books, including: The Anatomy of Loving, The Evolution of Psychoanalytic Technique and Generations of the Holocaust. Dr. Bergmann loved Shakespeare and often referred to his writings to elucidate psychoanalytic theory. One of his students stated “studying psychoanalysis with Martin was like taking a seminar in art, music, and literature.”

Jill Choder-Goldman, LCSW, is the Interview Editor for Psychoanalytic Perspectives, where her most recently published interview was with Adam Phillips. She is a psychoanalyst with a private practice in New York City, where she treats individuals, couples, and groups, and she is a clinical supervisor and advisor for NIP. She devotes a part of her practice to those in the arts, having also had a successful career as a performer for 20 years.