New directions for basic psychoanalytic research: Implications from the work of Benjamin Rubinstein.

Basic, theoretically relevant research on psychoanalysis needs the theory to be restated in nonmetapsychological terms. B. B. Rubinstein's (1975, 1976) hierarchical restructuring of the clinical theory provides such a framework of testable propositions. Because the propositions are intrinsically probabilistic, research therefore cannot follow a standard experimental paradigm, but must seek empirical generalizations. Paradoxically, this means a new emphasis on the individual. Moreover, Rubinstein showed, psychoanalytic theory deals not with single acts or thoughts but with classes of them. Numerous implications of this position for research done by teams and by solo practitioners are developed with examples. If basic research is to flourish, a number of changes in psychoanalytic institutes and organizations are needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)