Psychoanalysis in Argentina: Something to Talk About?

“One of the things that foreign visitors to any major city in Argentina find most surprising is the enormous presence of psychoanalysis in the urban culture. Anyone who questions the existence of the unconscious or of the Oedipus complex at a social gathering is made to feel as if he or she were denying the virginity of Mary before a synod of Catholic bishops.” Mariano Ben Plotkin quips in the introduction to his book ‘Freud in the Pampas’.

It is surprising that ‘Freud in the Pampas’ is one of the few academic works on the subject, considering that there are more psychoanalysts per person in Buenos Aires than any other city in the world. Palermo barrio also boasts an area called ‘Villa Freud’ because of its high concentration of shrinks!

Therapy in the capital is not merely relegated to the psychoanalyst’s chez longue, however. Many Argentines frequently consult a psychologist or take up alternative ‘new age’ treatments. Porteños in particular appear to relish divulging their most personal problems, and examining their friends’, over a cafe con leche of an afternoon.

Plotkin comments that “until recently Argentines themselves did not think the diffusion of psychoanalysis in their own country was worth studying. This lack of curiosity suggests that psychoanalysis has become so deeply rooted in the culture that for a long time it was simply a given, a part of an Argentina’s ‘world taken for granted’.” I found this concerning and wondered if Argentines’ compulsion to analyse was not a little unhealthy.

Dr. Andres Raskovsky, current president of the Argentine Psychoanalytic Association (APA), and son of one of its founders, does not think so. He points out that psychoanalysis originally developed within the immigrant community. It allowed the many Argentines who felt disconnected to their roots and confused about their identity to concentrate on “the search for origin and family history”. He joked: “They say that ‘the Mexicans are descended from the Aztecs, the Peruvians from the Incas and the Argentines from the boats!’”

However psychoanalysis has been most important to the country, according to Dr. Raskovsky, as a “questioning, intellectual revolutionary movement”. He explained, “along with my father [Dr. Arnaldo Raskovsky], Angel Garma, a Spaniard who came to Argentina fleeing from Franco’s Spain, was another of the founders. Shortly afterwards Marie Langer and Enrique Ferrari Hardoy came to Buenos Aires fleeing Nazism. They founded the APA and the movement characterised itself as a revolutionary one; fighting for freedom.”

Dr. Rascovsky believes that psychoanalysis served as an outlet under the military regime, when Argentina was very conservative and religious and considers that it maintains this role today in a country where people feel alienated from the political system and related institutions. He adds that “Argentine psychoanalysis acquired a more transgressive dimension… It wasn’t like in other countries. It organised a development of subjectivity and the search for freedom.”

Oscar Larmorgiar, a practising psychoanalyst, agrees that the therapy has found a niche in the country because it helps to manage the psychological pathologies from which Argentines, particularly, suffer. “Here in this revisionist and nostalgic society, where origin and identity are always being questioned, there is a strong desire to put things into words. Psychoanalysis, in this sense, has come to fulfil a more systematic and therapeutic version of the chat in the café or bar, which is already an important part of an Argentine’s nature.”

Interestingly, Larmorgiar likens psychoanalysis to another world renowned Argentine phenomenon: tango. He argues that Argentines’ need to vocalise the past is often apparent in the lyrics. He cites ‘Cambalache’ tango as an example, in which Enrique Santos Discepolo questions social order and warns that “he who doesn’t cry will never suckle”!

I confess that, even before reading this lyric, it had occurred to me that setting aside a couple of hours a week to whine about your problems could be considered self-indulgent, perhaps simply exacerbating them. Lamorgiar is convinced otherwise, claiming that psychoanalysis can allow someone to discover “their most intimate desire, to break free of parental constraints and at least a little from social constraints.”

He and Dr. Raskovsky argue that a session is not an opportunity to grumble, though it allows for talking freely. It is “a challenge, the most crucial pain that a person can undergo, because you have to remove your social mask and rid yourself of a way of being that you have used for some time.”

Proof of the popularity and efficacy of psychoanalysis’ can be found – most importantly – in the patient. Emma Bolos, who psychoanalysed herself for ten years, argues that it is a difficult process because you must accept responsibility for yourself and for the decisions you make. She claims that psychoanalysis allows you to mature: you “no longer do things just to please others, for fear that they won’t love you. You discover what you truly want and work towards it.”

While the popularity of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis has waned in other parts of the world, he is sincerely respected, along with disciple Lacan, in Argentina. Paula Altayrac and Elisabet Susella, the founders of the Psychoanalysts of the University of Buenos Aires Association, both believe that Freud is still revered, at least in part, because an important component of university psychology courses here focuses on his work.

Altayrac and Susella think that Freud’s psychoanalysis, enriched and modernised by Lacan, is the best method for resolving people’s emotional problems. “It is excellent as an antidote to the modern lifestyle, when everything has to happen so quickly and efficiently, everyone is deeply committed in their respective roles. Psychoanalysis takes on the role of slowing all this down a little.”

Alternative therapies popular in Argentina such as ‘gerstaltic’, ‘systemic’ and ‘group psychoanalysis’ – which can involve role playing emotionally charged situations – are considered derivations of Freud’s original work by Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysts. However it is cognitive therapy, a branch of psychology, which currently poses most the threat to the traditionally popular practice.

Eduardo Keegan, a psychology academic at UBA, believes cognitive therapy has gained popularity because it begins by addressing the concerns of the patient rather than reconstructing their past. Patients are given ‘homework’ assignments between sessions, which appears to be effective, at least in the short term, for treating common disorders such as depression, panic attacks and bulimia. Keegan points out that it is “more accepted by medical societies and insurance companies because it has proven its efficacy by means of careful empirical research”; not necessarily the case with many of the psychoanalytic treatments offered in Argentina.

His scepticism is strengthened by a conviction that psychoanalysis’ popularity owes something to Argentines’ whim for “all things French, particularly in the 60s”. It is also a “well paid career choice”, which sounds impressive, when its “complex subject matter is in fact fairly simple.”

Be it cognitive therapy or Lancanian psychoanalysis that floats your boat, Argentines certainly do not lack outlets to discuss their problems. While their inclination to share may scare many foreigners – and perhaps it is excessive – surely what is most important is whether it improves peoples’ quality of life. Emma Bolos claims that psychoanalysis has definitely done this for her; she now has a psychologically healthier outlook. Her commitment to the practice is unmistakable: “psychoanalysis is the one thing that I will continue doing till I die.”