Psychodynamic psychotherapy in psychiatry: the missing link?

Polarization of biological and psychosocial aspects of psychiatry determines the artificial division of the "biological" psychiatrists and psychiatrists "psychotherapists". This division resulted from a certain dose of mystification of the psychotherapeutic work of those practicing, and fear of psychological determinism of the functioning, of those who are looking for answers in the biological substrate. The gap of polarization is now described as a form of Cartesian dualism, the division of the mind and the brain. The integration of psychotherapy in psychiatry is the trend in psychiatric specialization, virtually erasing this dualism. This paper describes novelties related to psychotherapy training, as defined by the Section of Psychiatry within the European Union of Medical Specialities and the Psychiatry Residency Review Committee in the U.S.that provided guidelines for the psychotherapeutic competences of future psychiatrists. We are also describing the situation in Serbia, where there was a formal specialization in psychotherapy at the Medical Faculty in Belgrade, for over thirty years, and education in psychodynamics of adults, at the Mental Health Institute, from 1978 to 2007. In addition, there are a number of other schools of psychotherapy, providing training for psychiatrists. This framework allows the authors, based on their experience and previous research, to present their views concerning the future of training in psychodynamic psychotherapy in psychiatric education.