Using Psychoanalytic Insights to Shape Public Policy and Treatment for Veterans, with Harold Kudler

In this episode of Psychoanalysis and You, Dr. Gail Saltz interviews Dr. Harold Kudler, a distinguished psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, about his extensive experience working with veterans. Dr. Kudler shares insights from his career, including his time at the VA and his psychoanalytic training, and discusses the intersection of psychological trauma and military service. He explains how psychoanalytic principles helped him treat veterans suffering from PTSD and illuminates the complex nature of trauma and moral injury. Additionally, Dr. Kudler addresses the stigma surrounding mental health care in the military and highlights the importance of personalized mental health treatment. The episode concludes with Freudian quickies, where other analysts share their views on psychoanalytic values and the shortest treatments they have provided.

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast

00:26 Meet Dr. Harold Kudler

01:23 Psychoanalytic Training and VA Psychiatry

05:13 Understanding Psychological Trauma

11:10 Challenges in Treating Veterans

18:00 Military Mental Health Policy

24:53 Psychoanalytic Principles in Public Health

38:47 Freudian Quickies

43:16 Conclusion https://apsa.org/podcast #APsApodcast

Dr. Kudler received his M.D. from Downstate Medical Center, trained in Psychiatry at Yale and is Associate Consulting Professor at Duke and Adjunct Professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. From 2000 through 2005, he co-chaired the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA’s) Special Committee on PTSD which reports directly to Congress. He has served on the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Board of Directors, co-led development of joint VA/Department of Defense Guidelines for the Management of Posttraumatic Stress, and advised Sesame Street’s Talk Listen Connect series for military families.

Dr. Kudler is immediate Past President of the Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas and chairs the Service Members and Veterans Initiative of the American Psychoanalytic Association and the Military and Veterans Committee of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry.

Our Host

Our Host Dr. Gail Saltz is best known for her work as a relationship, family, emotional wellbeing, and mental health contributor in the media where she is a go-to expert for commentary on the mental health aspects of current/breaking issues and news. She is a bestselling author of numerous books. She serves on the public information committee for the American Psychoanalytic Association and for The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. Dr. Saltz is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the NY Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of medicine, a psychoanalyst with the New York Psychoanalytic Institute.

In this podcast, we explore the intricacies of psychoanalysis under the guidance of our host, Gail Saltz. Founded in 1911, the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA) is the oldest national psychoanalytic organization in the nation. APsA is committed to being a professional membership organization for psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, academics, researchers, students, and other interested people – all whose work is profoundly informed by psychoanalytic theory and values, and to supporting their education and continuing professional development.

https://apsa.org/podcast