Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Why assess? Psychoanalytical assessment in the NHS

The author outlines an approach to assessment, or as she prefers to call it, psychoanalytic consultation, in the Health Service. This involves giving the patient an experience of the analytic process, which they can then assess in a way, while the assessor gains infor- mation about a number of categories that can be thought of hierarchi- cally, which inform the advice given the patient and the referrer about management and treatment. The safety of the patient is paramount, as psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a powerful and disruptive treat- ment. However it is argued that, on the whole, ‘suitability for psychotherapy’ should be on the basis of exdusion rather than involv- ing the patient passing a sort of ‘suitability test’. The latter may enable public psychotherapy services to deny the incompleteness of what they are able to offer.