Applied Psychoanalysis?: On the use of psychoanalytic theory in research

Abstract

Based on teaching experience in the Research Seminar (SEMP) course within a Psychology Graduate Program, this article investigates the recurring methodological challenges faced by psychoanalytic researchers in academia. The study identifies a concerning trend: the hasty and uncritical use of psychoanalytic concepts as “ready-made answers”, undermining the careful development of original research problems. This phenomenon, termed “methodological anxiety”, leads to a dogmatic repetition of doctrine, hindering innovation and critical thinking. The article argues that this impasse deepens due to a paradoxical dynamic: while Psychoanalysis is granted a privileged epistemological status, it becomes disconnected from its clinical and historical roots. To counter this logic, the authors propose that methodology in Psychoanalysis should be understood not as a set of rules, but as: (1) resistance to the urgency for conclusions, valuing the logical time of elaboration; (2) overcoming mere imitation of canonical authors, encouraging a critical and creative reading that avoids the “mortification” of the researcher’s authorial voice; and (3) integrating Psychoanalysis into a program of historical epistemology of the human sciences. As a central contribution, the article advocates for researchers to develop “authorial signatures”, constructing research problems that engage critically and reflexively with the complexities of Brazilian social reality. The proposal aims to train investigators capable of employing Psychoanalysis as a framework for critical inquiry rather than as a dogmatic repertoire, thereby fostering psychoanalytic knowledge production that is both rigorous and unique.