I was gratified to read Oliver Burkeman’s essay in the Guardian, “The Revenge of Freud”.  According to him, recent research seems to indicate what I suspected all along.  Over the long haul, psychoanalysis trumps “Train Your Brain”-type therapy.  Whatever temporary benefits accrue from cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) tend to evaporate over time. That’s because quick fix solution may relieve symptoms but they have not effect on character change. The reason is we have two sets of needs: healthy ones and neurotic needs. The healthy needs are the obvious ones–to be successful, to be happy and to live conflict free lives.  The neurotic ones, on the other hand, aren’t so readily apparent. These are the needs that tie us to the past, to our need to re-create, in our adult lives, unresolved childhood conflicts. Our choices in life are determined by which of these two different sets of needs are in ascendance  at any given time. All emotions have value; they define who we are but acting on the unhealthy ones is, more often than not, destructive and self-destructive.   From my point of view, the most legitimate role of a psychotherapist is to help people to understand which emotions underlie their decisions, giving them the opportunity to consciously choose which ones to act on.                                                                                                                                 For example, a patient came for a consultation because she was at her wits end in her efforts to evict an impossible roommate. She wanted help figuring out what was stopping her from doing so.  In the midst of telling the story, she told me about the affair that she was having with a married man at work. I assumed the two stories were connected. She was unconsciously telling me that she felt guilty about the affair and was using her impossible roommate situation as self punishment.  Once she was able to understand her guilt and need for punishment, she was able to get rid of the roommate.