Sandy Abend has been a close friend of mine for more than twenty years. For decades longer I have been an admirer of his. The qualities that make Sandy a good friend and those that make him an important contributor to our psychoanalytic literature--not to mention an outstanding clinician--are, I think, quite similar. He combines qualities that we don't expect to find together: he is at once gentle and firm, respectful of tradition (even a "true-believer") and openminded, conservative and innovative, convinced and curious. These characteristics led him to propose a project that has been an important part of our friendship for a long time now. Sandy invited me to be part of a study group he was putting together; the members were senior analysts, all identified with particular points of view in which were entrenched. But the announced purpose of the group would be, as Sandy put it, "to read things that we wouldn't ordinarily read." In the balkanized psychoanalytic world of the time (and still although to a lesser extent today) this wasn't the kind of thing that one would imagine could engage the interest of analysts who were deeply committed to ideas and institutions that had shaped their long and successful professional careers. But it worked. Or, I should say, it is working, because the group continues to meet and continues to be a highlight of the professional lives of all of us who participate in it. The spirit that moved Sandy to create our study group pervades and shapes his writing. More than many of today's thinkers he is committed to a particular theoretical perspective; he is certainly not a pluralist nor to say the least) is he the sort of analyst who seeks out and embraces the latest trend. Sandy coined the term "modern conflict theory" and he remains loyal to the theory's ideas and to its seminal thinkers. The loyalty is neither simply personal nor abstractly conceptual; he understands and deeply appreciates the enduring clinical value of the contributions of earlier generations of psychoanalysts. Review Quotes: This collection of the psychoanalytic papers of Dr. Sander Abend is a more than welcome addition to our literature. Covering a wide range of psychoanalytic topics, and written in a clear and comprehensive way, it reveals an analyst equally at home with psychoanalytic theory and practice. Experienced analysts as well as beginners in the field will profit from a careful reading of these papers." --MARTIN S. WILLICK, M.D. "Sander Abend's invaluable contributions to theory and practice make him among the most important voices in psychoanalysis today. This long awaited collection of his extraordinary papers is destined to be a classic in our field.This book is essential reading for anyone seriously interested in contemporary psychoanalysis." --THEODORE JACOBS, M.D. Table of Contents: Sander Abend: A Personal Reflection by Jay Greenberg, Ph.D. . . . . . .1 Contemporary Conflict Theory: A Journey of a Psychoanalyst: An Introduction by Arthur A. Lynch, Ph.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Part I: The Psychoanalytic Process Chapter 1 Problems of Identity--Theoretical and Clinical Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Chapter 2 Some Observations on Reality Testing as a Clinical Concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Chapter 3 Neglected Classics: Ernst Kris's "On Some Vicissitudes of Insight in Psychoanalysis". . . . . . . . .75 Chapter 4 The Psychoanalytic Process: Motives and Obstacles in the Search for Clarification . . . . . .81 Chapter 5 The Problem of Therapeutic Alliance. . . . . . . . . . . . .99 Chapter 6 Analytic Technique Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Chapter 7 Expanding Psychological Possibilities . . . . . . . . . . 123 Part II: Unconscious Fantasy Chapter 8 Unconscious Fantasy and Theories of Cure. . . . . . 137 Chapter 9 Sibling Love and Object Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Chapter 10 Unconscious Fantasies, Structural Theory, and Compromise Formation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Chapter 11 Unconscious Fantasy and Modern Conflict Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Chapter 12 A Variant of Joking in Dreams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Part III: Therapeutic Action and Change Chapter 13 Factors Influencing Change in Patients in Psychoanalytic Treatment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Chapter 14 Analyzing Intrapsychic Conflict: Compromise Formation as an Organizing Principle. . . . . . . . . . 219 Chapter 15 Therapeutic Action in Modern Conflict Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Chapter 16 Freud, Transference, and Therapeutic Action. . . . 265 Chapter 17 An Analogue of Negation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Chapter 18 Psychic Conflict and the Concept of Defense. . . . 297 Part IV: Countertransference Chapter 19 Serious Illness in the Analyst: Countertransference Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . 309 Chapter 20 Countertransference, Empathy, and the Analytic Ideal: The Impact of Life Stresses on Analytic Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Chapter 21 Countertransference and Psychoanalytic Technique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 Chapter 22 An Inquiry into the Fate of the Transference in Psychoanalysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 Chapter 23 Psychoanalytic Perspectives on the Treatment of Sicker Patients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 Chapter 24 Unconscious Fantasies and Issues of Termination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 Part V: Comparative Theory Chapter 25 Intrapsychic Versus Interpersonal: The Wrong Dilemma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 Chapter 26 Relational Influences on Modern Conflict Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
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