A signpost of the relational turn in contemporary psychoanalysis, Karen Maroda's The Power of Countertransference, published in 1991, is perhaps the first systematic effort to integrate the need for mutual emotional exchanges, which may include the analyst's own self-disclosures, into an interactive model of psychoanalytic practice. Maroda's call for emotional honesty and affective self-disclosure had an immediate impact on the field and led Harold Searles to comment, "If we follow the example set by Maroda, we shall be minimally likely to 'act in' our emotions in our sessions with our patients. They will benefit greatly as a result; we practitioners shall benefit; and the profession of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic therapy will become healthier and stronger than it is at present." This revised edition includes a new Foreword by Lewis Aron and an Afterword in which Maroda clarifies her own position and comments on the evolution of psychoanalytic technique since the publication of The Power of Countertransference. -- from the publisher "We join [Maroda] on her own personal odyssey. Through rich and self-disclosing clinical material, she chronicles her development from a constrained novice who hid behind 'neutrality' into a world of intimate relating with her patients. We hear about her clinical failures, successes, and experiments with what is for many therapists the uncharted territory of countertransference use and disclosure. . . . This book is filled with compelling clinical vignettes and solid advice to guide therapists through the deepest currents of their own growth in the context of therapeutic relating." -- Joan Glass Morgan, Contemporary Psychology "The Power of Countertransference is a remarkable and provocative book." --Laura Barbanel, Psychotherapy ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen J. Maroda, Ph.D is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Medical College of Wisconsin and a faculty member at the Minnesota Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalytic Studies. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she has a private practice. |
