Still the tripod?

One hundred years of the Eitingon model

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the experience of a representative of EPFCL-Brazil in the Movement for the Coordination of Psychoanalytic Entities and its effects on the training of analysts. In 1926, Freud made a single demand of those who wished to listen to other subjects: to undergo analysis. Based on the work that has been developed, research was conducted on Freud's work regarding the signifier “tripod” and, as far as could be verified, the term does not appear in any of his texts, only scattered references. The creation of the tripod and the homogeneous model of analytical training is attributed to Max Eitingon. The objective of this article is to question the use of the term “tripod,” which has served as the basis for the opening of undergraduate courses in psychoanalysis. From this, we see the expression “Freudian tripod” as a product to justify the existence of these courses and the rapid increase in new students— between 2021 and 2023, more than 13,000 places were created. The conclusion is that the expression functions as a slogan for the alliance between scientific and capitalist discourse, and that the tripod, so often repeated by analysts, has become a catchphrase for de(formation). Thus, it is urgent that each analyst, one by one, take the non-regulation of psychoanalysis as a cause for their ongoing training and bet that with each new analysis, the analyst's desire may arise.