This book is a unique and superb gateway to current psychoanalytic thinking. Thirty of America's foremost psychoanalysts—leaders in defining the current pluralistic state of the profession—have each presented what they consider to be their most significant contribution to the field. No mere anthology, these are the key writings that underlie current discussions of psychoanalytic theory and technique. The chapters cover contemporary ideas of intersubjectivity, object relations theory, self psychology, relational psychoanalysis, hermeneutics, clinical technique, changing concepts of unconscious, empirical research, infant observation, gender and sexuality, and more. While the differences in point of view are profound, there is also a striking coherence on some core issues. Each of the contributions features an introduction by the volume editor and a note by the author explaining the rationale for its selection. The brilliant introduction by Peter Fonagy provides an overview and places each author in the context of contemporary psychoanalysis. A list of the authors may convey the astonishing breadth of this volume:
Brenner, Bromberg, Busch, Chodorow, Cooper, Emde, Friedman, Gabbard, Goldberg, Greenberg, Grossman, Hoffman, Jacobs, Kantrowitz, Kernberg, Levenson, Luborsky, Michels, Ogden, Ornstein, Person, Pine, Renik, Schafer, Schwaber, Shapiro, Smith, Stern, Stolorow, Wallerstein This is a “best of the best” volume—cutting-edge writing, highly accessible and studded with vivid clinical illustrations. Anyone wishing to acquire a comprehensive, authoritative, readily accessible—even entertaining—guide to American psychoanalytic thinking will find their goal fulfilled in this monumental collection. --- from the publisher Contents Contributors. Preface. Introduction. Conflict, compromise formation and structural theory. Treating patients with symptoms—and symptoms with patience: reflections on shame, dissociation, and eating disorders. "In the neighborhood": aspects of a good interpretation and a "developmental lag" in ego psychology. Heterosexuality as a compromise formation: reflections on the psychoanalytic theory of sexual development. The narcissistic-masochistic character. Mobilizing fundamental modes of development: empathic availability and therapeutic action. Ferrum, ignis, and medicina: return to the crucible. Miscarriages of psychoanalytic treatment with suicidal patients. Between empathy and judgment. Conflict in the middle voice. The self as fantasy: fantasy as theory. Ritual and spontaneity in the psychoanalytic process. On misreading and misleading patients: some reflections on communications, miscommunications, and countertransference enactments. The external observer and the lens of the patient-analyst match. Recent developments in the technical approaches of English-language psychoanalytic schools. The pursuit of the particular:on the psychoanalytic inquiry. A relationship pattern measure: the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme. Psychoanalysts' theories. The analytic third: implications for psychoanalytic theory and technique. Chronic rage from underground: reflections on its structure and treatment. Knowledge and authority: the godfather fantasy. The four psychologies of psychoanalysis and their place in clinical work. Playing one's cards face up in analysis: an approach to the problem of self-disclosure. Narration in the psychoanalytic dialogue: psychoanalytic theories as narratives. The struggle to listen: continuing reflections, lingering paradoxes, and some thoughts on recovery of memory. On reminiscences. Countertransference, conflictual listening, and the analytic object relationship. Some implications of infant observations for psychoanalysis. World horizons: a post-Cartesian alternative to the Freudian unconscious. One psychoanalysis or many? Index. Reviews “We have here the rare opportunity of studying the best contributions of North American psychoanalysis directly from their authors, 30 renowned psychoanalysts representing a fascinating texture of very varied ideas. It is a pleasure to see here not only the papers, but the reason for their choice. They cover many different areas of psychoanalytic theory, practice and application, written in different periods and each with a specific style. Together they show the strength and creativity of the North American way of developing psychoanalysis. In a moment when we need, more than ever, to be able to listen to the other, trying to understand what is specific to this otherness in order to develop our discipline and our ability to live with different analytic cultures, this book is a remarkable achievement that will contribute much to our current pursuit of mutual understanding.”—Cláudio Laks Eizirik, M.D., Ph.D., President, International Psychoanalytical Association “Arnold Cooper has assembled some of the outstanding psychoanalytic thinkers of the 20th and 21st centuries. He has given us a rich menu of edifying and delightful papers on diverse aspects of psychoanalysis. The product of so many active creative minds of the leading thinkers of the day on psychoanalysis is a treasure and will be enjoyed by many in all fields who have any interest in human psychology and its relationship to mental health.”—Herbert Pardes, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia and Cornell Universities “One of our greatest contemporary psychoanalysts, Arnold Cooper, has edited a splendid compilation of thirty pivotal papers, written by the finest and most thoughtful leaders in the field. As a comprehensive summary of contemporary theories and ideas, this book reveals psychoanalysis as a living and vital discipline. This is a book you will want to own, read, savor, and re-read.”—Nancy C. Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D., Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine; Editor Emeritus, American Journal of Psychiatry About the Editor: Arnold M. Cooper, M.D., is Stephen P. Tobin and Dr. Arnold M. Cooper Professor Emeritus in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and Training and Supervising Analyst at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research in New York City. |
