"Psychoanalysts are not occupied with the minds of their patients; they do not believe in the mind but in a cerebral intestine"

The quote by Bernard Berenson, "Psychoanalysts are not inhabited with the minds of their patients; they do not believe in the mind however in a cerebral intestinal tract", provides an intriguing critique of psychoanalysis and its approach to understanding human psychology. Berenson, known for his work in art criticism, draws a somewhat metaphorical comparison in between the mind and the intestinal tract to reveal skepticism about the psychoanalytic process.

Berenson's assertion that psychoanalysts concentrate on the "cerebral intestinal tract" suggests a view that psychoanalysis is more concerned with the unconscious procedures and natural functions of the brain, instead of a more holistic understanding of the mindful mind. The term "cerebral intestine" might be translated as a metaphor for the subconscious or the much deeper, less available parts of the human psyche that psychoanalysts probe. This metaphor indicates that the psychoanalytic process is untidy and complex, likening it to the digestion process that takes place in the intestines-- an extensive breakdown and absorption that happens internally and frequently automatically.

Additionally, the statement shows a belief that psychoanalysts explore the hidden, complicated mechanisms of thought and feeling, much like how intestinal tracts work unseen to process food. Berenson may be critiquing the reductionist nature of early psychoanalysis, which typically tried to equate complex human experiences into simplified, formulaic interpretations based on instinctual drives and repressed memories.

However, the quote also dismisses the idea that psychoanalysts are engaged with the patient's conscious thoughts and experiences ("they do not think in the mind"). This termination could be a commentary on the perceived neglect of the mindful experience in favor of discovering and interpreting the unconscious. Berenson appears to question the effectiveness and the philosophical foundations of psychoanalysis by implying that it trivializes or overlooks the more cerebral, existential elements of human psychology.

In essence, this quote encapsulates a review of psychoanalytical practice as a possibly invasive procedure that reduces the intricacy of the human mind to that of a biological or mechanical entity-- the "cerebral intestine"-- favoring the physiological and instinctual over the thoughtful and conscious.