The Psychodynamic Psychiatrist and Psychiatric Care in the Era of COVID-19.

Near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 13, 2020, about 50 members of the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis convened through Zoom to talk about the impact of the pandemic on their practices, their patients, and themselves.∗ They offer their reflections through oral and written comments. Participants were encouraged to organize their contributions around the dimensions of administrative psychiatry, the structure of clinical care, the content of clinical care, the patients' reported personal experiences, and the psychiatrists' reported personal experiences. Themes identified and discussed are paradoxical separateness, seeking an optimal interpersonal distance, finding new idioms, reality and symbolism, and loss, mourning, and isolation. The views are noted to touch on only one point early in the arc of the pandemic. A significant body of personal commentary provides an understanding of the roots of themes likely to evolve as the pandemic progresses.

Five Months Later: The Psychodynamic Psychiatrist and Psychiatric Care in the Era of COVID-19.

Five months following an earlier report on the initial impact of COVID-19, the same 24 contributing psychodynamic psychiatrists reported on how matters have shifted in their experience. Spread of the virus, lockdowns, politicization of all aspects of the pandemic, massive unemployment, and social justice frustrations have characterized the interim. The initial burst of acute uncertainty and worry has shifted into a more adaptive but still destabilizing long-term apprehension: distance treatment and its ramifications have become somewhat normalized, training now incorporates virtual treatment approaches, psychodynamically informed counseling has taken a larger role in the content of care. New theories of clinical practice are emerging that address these changes. As before, contributors' narratives are considered from the perspective of administration and training, structure and content of treatment, and the impact of the pandemic both on patients and psychiatrists.

The Psychodynamic Psychiatrist and Psychiatric Care in the Era of COVID-19.

Near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 13, 2020, about 50 members of the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis convened through Zoom to talk about the impact of the pandemic on their practices, their patients, and themselves.* They offer their reflections through oral and written comments. Participants were encouraged to organize their contributions around the dimensions of administrative psychiatry, the structure of clinical care, the content of clinical care, the patients' reported personal experiences, and the psychiatrists' reported personal experiences. Themes identified and discussed are paradoxical separateness, seeking an optimal interpersonal distance, finding new idioms, reality and symbolism, and loss, mourning, and isolation. The views are noted to touch on only one point early in the arc of the pandemic. A significant body of personal commentary provides an understanding of the roots of themes likely to evolve as the pandemic progresses.