Drs. Gabbard and Kassaw Reply

To the Editor: We thank Drs. Pompili and colleagues for their kind words about our contribution. We share their view that the teaching of psychodynamic psychotherapy to psychiatric residents is fundamental and essential for all psychiatric practice. Psychiatric illness occurs in the context of a person. Addressing that person requires the listening skills and complex understanding gained from psychodynamic psychotherapy training. If we lose the psychodynamic component to psychiatric education, we do so at our own peril.