I am on a working vacation for the next few weeks so I thought the next few posts about psychologists and the value of vacations would make for good summer reading:

When Jewish intellectuals fled Europe around the time of World War II and immigrated to cities like New York, they brought with them the practices of psychoanalysis and taking August off.

Since psychoanalysts were in analysis themselves during their training, both the clients and the service providers were steeped in the tradition of August vacations. Woody Allen decried the practice in "Play It Again, Sam," noting, "New York is full of people who are crazy till Labor Day." The 1991 film, "What About Bob?" focuses on a patient, played by Bill Murray, who tracks down his shrink, played by Richard Dreyfuss, on a month-long vacation with his family in New Hampshire.

The August break tradition first took hold during the Freudian heyday, when many of the analysts were either German or Swiss and were culturally accustomed to taking the month of August off, as they did back home. "In analytical circles the August break was -- is -- almost tradition," says Stephanie Rasband, a psychotherapist in West Los Angeles. The
tradition has broadened to all varieties of psychology today, she says.

Some mental health professionals stress that the break is very important. "Caregiver burnout is a real threat," says Linnda Durre, a psychotherapist in Winter Park, Fla. "It can be very depressing if you don't take care of yourself and recharge." She says that time off every year should be de rigueur for any therapist who wants to stay sharp, fresh and focused for the rest of the year.

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