"Psychoanalysis is like going to school about yourself." I found this saying written on a desktop calendar as one of its daily reflections early in my training as an analyst. As a candidate I was already in my own analysis so my education about myself was fortified with classroom teaching and readings that opened my mind further to the dynamics of human relations and how we tick!   I am often baffled by how many years of school we have with no courses about ourselves. Psychoanalysis gives us a place not only to be heard by another, but a place to hear ourselves and to educate ourselves about ourselves through the presence and guidance of one who has also been through the maze of self-exploration and discovery.    It was the philosopher and poet, Georges Santayana, who said, "Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it." Santayana said this in his warning to the US about intervening in Vietnam. And alas, after five years and $3 trillion dollars in Iraq, many of us are scratching our heads wondering, why is it that we still have not learned from history? Greater still is the question, why do we not want to learn from our history?  In the story of Oedipus Rex, the Greek Classic play, one of the most important scenes at the heart of the conflict occurs when Oedipus says to the Oracle about the meaning of his dream, "I don't know and I don't want to know!"     Freud found a timeless wisdom in Sophocles' story that is still told on stages, taught in classrooms and acted out in our lives.  If ignorance is not knowing, what is not wanting to know? Defiance? Rage? Fear? Guilt? Whether a war between countries or a battle between spouses or friends, conflict arises and both parties are left wondering how to move forward with hurt and fear, how to find dignity and respect where none seems to be shown. What is in each of our histories comes to bear on each of our lives and in the relationships we share.   Both Freud and Jung began their careers each writing his first book about dreams and their importance in helping us know ourselves better.  What remains hidden in our own minds, what remains sometimes shocking or unacceptable can play itself out in our dreams. What do we want? What do we fear? What do we wish for? These are the questions that psychoanalysis can help us articulate because they simply need to be known and asked in a safe place without judgment, a place where they can be heard and discerned. If our destructive wishes were analyzed before we acted on them, our world might be in a better place. Might not our relationships?      Rob Marchesani, MSSc, LP  Dean and Executive Director