The impact of shame on the psychoanalysis of a borderline child.

Clinical psychoanalysis has ignored shame as the source of psychopathology, despite a burgeoning literature. Here the authors present an analysis carried out with a hospitalized child diagnosed as borderline. The analyst's efforts to interpret the patient's self-concealing behaviors elicited intensified shame reactions not clearly understood at the time. Here the authors explore the evolutionary and developmental origins of shame as a primary affect modifying the interest the organism has in novel stimuli. The authors briefly explain why clinicians overlook the relationship of shame to both psychopathology and psychoanalytic technique. In this case, the illness, based largely on the child's chronic experience of humiliation, remitted in response to the supportive influence of an extraordinarily sensitive hospital setting combined with the analyst's growing willingness to accept the child's positive response to being accepted on his own grounds. These laid the foundation for a psychoanalytic process to take place. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A perspective on child psychoanalysis 1994: The recognition of relational theory and technique in child treatment.

The central assertion of this article is that child psychoanalysts have been moving toward relational theory and practice in recent years. However, the lingering influence of drive theory and associated analytic technique is evident in a common tendency to ignore the impact on the patient of what the analyst does and says in the analytic interaction. Clinical examples illustrating this point are taken from the published work of Freudian, Kleinian, and Winnicottian analysts. Discussion of the cases focuses on explicating the points at which the analytic work presented does or does not focus on the here-and-now interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reenfranchising psychoanalysis.

This article explores the meaning of disenfranchisement as it relates to the estrangement of psychoanalysis from gays and lesbians, who were not included in the original conference on the disenfranchised. This oversight is examined as part of the lag between a more inclusive stance toward gays and lesbians by psychoanalytic professional organizations and adoption of a similar inclusiveness by doctoral programs. The author examines whether these programs are honestly acknowledging their gay and lesbian students; alternative supervisory clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate their difficulties. The implications of continued avoidance of open conversation around issues of sexuality in training programs are explored in terms of the possible consequences that arise from unexamined countertransference, for both patients and therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nomothetic psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalytic theory's roots (in the clinic rather than the laboratory), and aims (depth understanding of the individual) have led to the development of a theoretical perspective that relies primarily on idiographic data and case material to derive and test psychoanalytic hypotheses. In this article, I describe nomothetic psychoanalysis--a framework for conceptualizing and evaluating psychoanalytic ideas that complements and enriches the traditional idiographic approach. Guidelines for conducting nomothetic studies of psychodynamic constructs are provided, and five principles are offered for implementing nomothetic psychoanalysis to maximize its heuristic value and clinical impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perspectives on attachment and psychoanalysis.

Contrasts attachment as a relationship approach for understanding development with relevant psychoanalytic perspectives. Current theoretical and research concepts focusing on affect development and the evolution of the parent–infant relationship are discussed. A broader understanding of attachment is presented, which includes 2 ideas. The 1st is that internal representations build on internal working models of development. The 2nd is that the attachment concept, combined with systems theory, is a way to conceptualize aspects of family theory and therapy. Clinical implications of attachment theory and research are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary on "Contemporary structural psychoanalysis and relational psychoanalysis."

Comments on the Special Section "Contemporary structural psychoanalysis and relational psychoanalysis" in Psychoanalytic Psychology, Vol 12 [1]. The author states there are many misreadings of the relational theories. He emphasizes the reasons the term relational was chosen for the theory, the conflict among different relational configurations, and the issues separating relational and structural theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on psychoanalysis in Canada.

Some historical and contemporary features of the psychoanalytic movement in Canada are brought to the attention of psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The trend toward convergence in psychoanalysis: Comment on the special section on structural and relational psychoanalysis and on the commentary.

Replies to comments by J. Benjamin, S. A. Mitchell, and C. J. Spezzano (see records 83-14390, 83-14402, and 83-14404, respectively) on the Special Section of Psychoanalytic Psychology, Vol 12(1), "Contemporary structural psychoanalysis and relational psychoanalysis." The author argues that the key issue is the failure to recognize not only the variations within both the relational and Freudian frameworks but the extent to which a convergence of ideas has been taking place between these 2 orientations and among all varieties of psychoanalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contemporary American psychoanalysis: A profession? Increasing the role of research in psychoanalysis.

The simmering crisis confronting American psychoanalysis today is, in part, a function of fundamental theoretical and clinical disagreements within psychoanalysis itself. Psychoanalytic training, which conveys the special knowledge of our profession, and its application to techniques of treatment have become fragmented and frayed; boundaries have lost definition and our qualification as a profession is vitiated. Our diminished status is reflected in reduced public support and our smaller share of the patient population. Debate seems unable to resolve these disagreements. Acknowledgment of this reduced status creates the need and the opportunity for an increased role for research in psychoanalysis and the development of an analytic research enterprise capable of exploring for empirical resolutions of basic questions and disputes. Such a concerted effort to define the psychoanalytic enterprise through empirically supported basic tenets is necessary to avoid further dissipation of the markers of our psychoanalytic identity, both as individuals and as a profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theoretical insularity and the crisis of psychoanalysis.

It is argued that the tendency of psychoanalysis toward sectarianism, the inclination to isolate theoretical viewpoints from each other, rather than pluralism, the active engagement of differences, is a significant factor in the loss of influence psychoanalysis has suffered. A brief history is given of the fate of theoretical differences in the field to show the historical sectarianism of psychoanalytic thought. The contention is that the resulting inability of psychoanalysis to define itself, even as a pluralistic discipline, renders it vulnerable to the criticism that the field has little claim to be a branch of knowledge, or to achieve scientific status, even under the most liberal definition of that term. The contention is that the failure to engage differences openly bears a closer kinship to religion than human science. A plea is made for dialogue in the Heideggerean sense of openness to difference so that psychoanalysis can establish itself as a human science characterized by the pluralism of intellectual dialogue rather than the insularity of sectarianism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-reflexivity and the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis.

This article presents a model of therapeutic action that takes into account both intrapsychic and intersubjective dimensions of analysis and the necessity of their mutual interaction in the development of self-reflexivity. Reflexive self-awareness is both an intellectual and emotional process; involves conscious and unconscious mentation; draws on symbolic, iconic, and enactive representations; and involves the mediation of the self-as-subject with self-as-object, the "I" and the "me," the verbal and the bodily selves, the other-as-subject, and the other-as-object. Self-reflexivity is not the achievement of an isolated mind in private contemplation, as the traditional concepts of insight and self-analysis may have implied; rather, self-reflexivity always involves an affective engagement, a meeting of minds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New directions in psychoanalysis.

A number of significant developments augur well for the future of psychoanalysis, both as a method of therapy and as a branch of psychological science. The contributions of Heinz Kohut, together with the explanations for his clinical findings as made possible by developmental psychology, cybernetics, communication science, and neurophysiology are reviewed in the context of their significance for Freud's pioneering discoveries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classical and relational psychoanalysis.

Comments on the articles by A. Wilson, J. F. Murray, A. Sugarman (see PA, Vol 82:33124, 33115, and 33122, respectively) and others regarding the controversy between classical and relational theories in psychoanalysis. Gill focuses on the opposition between classical and relational theory and suggests that the central issue in the controversy is the relation between the innate and the experiential. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Somatic experience in psychoanalysis.

Bodily experience in psychoanalysis as it is encountered developmentally and during treatment is the focal point of this article. The evolution of psychoanalytic thinking on the way that somatic experience contributes to the development of a distinctive psychic self and to the establishment of an intersubjective dialogue between caregiver and infant is traced. Additionally, the relevance of attending to the somatic experience of both analysand and analyst during the course of treatment is underscored, particularly with patients whose primary mode of communicating about their internal experience is through various forms of bodily expression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On history and psychoanalysis.

Freud claimed that psychoanalysis represented a major assault on human narcissism. This view is only partially correct for it is largely ahistorical. Freud's view must now be balanced against the historians' perspective on psychoanalysis, which in its turn represents a potential narcissistic blow to psychoanalysis, so long as psychoanalysts isolate themselves from fuller recognition of the sociocultural matrix of Freud's work. This article, by a psychoanalyst, presents some of the newer perspectives of historians on the development of Freud's work against the background of late 19th century Austrian and German political, cultural, and social history. Through understanding this past, we are better able to understand the present dilemmas of psychoanalysis, in particular the relevance of social forces in the development of emotional disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discussion of articles on relational theory in psychoanalysis.

Comments on differences between classical and relational theories in psychoanalysis, focusing on discussions by A. Wilson, J. F. Murray, F. Busch, and J. L. Bachant et al (see PA, Vol 82:33124, 33115, 34118, and 33102). Modell contends that a relational theory is a necessary added dimension to Freudian psychoanalysis and that differences of opinion should not lead to separate psychoanalytic schools of thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The educative aspects of psychoanalysis.

The author explores ways in which psychoanalysts directly or indirectly educate their patients about attitudes, beliefs, and areas of knowledge in which the analytic community claims expertise. The neglected art of teaching a patient how to collaborate in the analytic process is addressed. Therapeutic aspects of educative interventions are discussed with respect to emotion, development, trauma and stress, intimacy and sexuality, and self-esteem. Emphasis is put on areas in which psychoanalytic subcultures differ notably from the larger society. The dangers of an analyst's taking a deliberately instructional stance or a tone of certainty are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The second century of psychoanalysis.

Presents a theory of unconscious mental life and makes predictions for the 2nd century of psychoanalysis. The theory of unconscious mental life assumes that a person unconsciously performs many of the same kinds of functions that are performed consciously and holds that psychopathology is rooted in cognition. The psychoanalytic process following from this theory is discussed and a research study designed to determine why a patient persistently made unconscious transference demands on the analyst is described. The author predicts that in the next 100 yrs, analysts will become less constrained and psychoanalysis will shed its concern for purity, accommodate the various common-sense ways that one person helps another, have more contact with other fields, and benefit greatly from research in related fields and in analysis itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impending death of psychoanalysis.

Although psychoanalysis once dominated psychology, evidence now points to the waning influence of psychoanalytic theory in psychological science, psychiatric diagnosis, undergraduate instruction, and graduate training. In this article I describe 7 self-destructive behaviors exhibited by psychoanalysts that contributed to the precipitous decline of psychoanalytic theory in recent years. I then outline three strategies for retaining those features of psychoanalysis that are scientifically and clinically useful while jettisoning those that are dated and inaccurate. These strategies might enable scientific psychologists and research-minded practitioners to reinvigorate psychoanalytic theory during the 21st century. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)