Review of Object Relations Family Therapy.

The authors illustrate the application of the British object relations theory to psychoanalytic work with individuals, couples, and families. The basis for their approach rests primarily on Fairbairn's theoretical constructions, and--to a lesser extent--on some of the contributions of Winnicott, Guntrip, Balint, Klein, and Bion. The authors stress the utilitarian value of object relations theory to interpersonal interactions characteristic of families and couples. In contrast, classical psychoanalytic instinct theory is essentially an intrapsychic frame of reference, useful in individual psychoanalysis, but of limited empirical value in group work. The Scharffs demonstrate how one can apply Fairbairnian principles, with some modifications, to understanding families from theoretical, developmental, and therapeutic perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory.

The reviewer contends that this book deserves admiration for its masterly review of historical events in the development of psychoanalysis. It should be read by psychoanalysts not only for its enormous fund of skillfully assembled information about the formative years of Freud's thinking, but for its story of how new information was treated by some leaders of the psychoanalytic establishment. In the guise of protecting psychoanalysis, this information was dismissed as harmful. It is precisely such a well-meaning upholding of psychoanalytic doctrine that can throttle its growth. Although some of Masson's interpretations are made in the best Freudian style, Lewis remains unconvinced that, in what Masson calls a "failure of courage," Freud suppressed the truth. Nor did Freud's abandonment of the seduction theory lead to the present-day "sterility" of psychoanalysis, as Masson believes. Rather, the spurious need to defend psychoanalysis that Masson encountered during his investigations has also made many institutes sterile places. Masson thus confounds the limitations of some parts of the psychoanalytic establishment with the future of psychoanalysis itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of My Life in Theory.

Reviews the book, My Life in Theory by Leo Rangell (see record 2004-12815-000). Leo Rangell has been a central figure in the theoretical, clinical, and organizational aspects of psychoanalysis for over 6 decades. He is the only native-born American to become Honorary President of the International Psychoanalytic Association, where he twice was elected President. He also served 2 terms as President of the American Psychoanalytic Association. One might therefore view him and this intellectual autobiography as the voice of the ultimate "insider." To do so would, however, miss the independence and humanness of the author. Actually, this "autobiography" consists of several parallel strains. It is indeed a history of Rangell's lifetime journey and love affair with psychoanalysis; it is a critique of the direction that psychoanalysis has taken, and subsequently a call for a total composite theory, and finally, it is an attempt to set the record straight. Rangell states: "My goal has always been, and it is in this book, to present a view of a unitary psychoanalytic theory as this has cumulatively grown and progressed over the century" (p.50). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Fundamentals of psychoanalytic technique.

Reviews the book "Fundamentals of psychoanalytic technique," by Trygve Braat?y (see record 1955-00974-000). Braat?y, a slightly off-beat psychoanalyst, writes as a facile essayist, drawing on a vast fund of intriguingly patterned knowledge, often careless with words in his first approximations, but showing profound thoughtfulness and meticulous patience in setting forth his material. The material itself will be of variable interest to most psychologists. His book is a fascinating development in the gradually emerging rapprochement between those analysts who are completely unconscious and those psychologists who permit themselves to think only with the 10 per cent of their iceberg minds that maintains a bobbling existence above sea level. While much of the book lacks the authority of firmly established evidence, its purpose is more to consider implications that go beyond the evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Recent developments in psychoanalysis.

Reviews the book, Recent developments in psychoanalysis by Morris N. Eagle (see record 1987-98252-000). This volume is a timely and important addition to psychoanalytic literature. Eagle states that it is "intended as a systematic overview of recent ideas with the aim of providing a coherent account of the current status of psychoanalytic theory." His overview is generally fair, but penetrating, and exposes much of the irrationality and confusion that have plagued psychoanalytic thinking recently. He suggests that this confusion has arisen out of the tendency of psychoanalytic theorists to ignore advances in other areas of psychological research and related fields, particularly in the area of psychology of child development. Further confusion has been created by their attempt to formulate new concepts and ideas within the framework of classical Freudian metapsychology, which is rooted in instinct theory. These attempts, in many cases, have led to the use of a psychoanalytic language full of jargon, rendering theoretical formulations expressed in this way totally incomprehensible and aloof from logical consideration, while pretending to add metapsychological depth. Ultimately, however, he tries to elucidate the many real contributions to psychoanalytic theory by these theorists and to integrate their work into a coherent framework. His efforts in this regard reflect a sympathetic approach to the aims and ideals of psychoanalysis as a social science and a form of therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Humor and psyche: Psychoanalytic perspectives.

Review of book: James W. Barron. Humor and psyche: Psychoanalytic perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press, 1999, xi + 232 pp.. Reviewed by Jeffrey Berman. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Psychoanalytic Process: Theory, Clinical Observation and Empirical Research.

The authors have tied their theory of psychopathology to notions of what fosters therapeutic progress and have then taken the unusual step of testing these ideas systematically and scientifically. Their book will appeal especially to those who are receptive to a cognitively oriented psychoanalytic approach and who advocate more informed, scientifically rigorous psychoanalytic research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Lacan.

Reviews the book, Lacan by Malcolm Bowie (see record 1991-97907-000). What is on offer here is one outcome of a conversation in which Lacan's texts--whatever their difficulties, obscurities, and seductive attractions--have been obliged to make their sense in and to a larger field of psychoanalytic concerns. Bowie divides Lacan's career into five main phases, to each of which he devotes a chapter. Bowie's is a strong and frequently persuasive partitioning of Lacan's development. The interplay between Bowie's style and his interrogation of Lacan's style is central and productive throughout the book. Those who have been wrestling with Lacan for some time will find there is room for reservations about Bowie's Lacan, and some of those reservations will be of possibly considerable consequence in the end. There will also be reservations provoked into explicitness by--and so also indebted to--Bowie's own argumentative clarity and force. And for those who are not already at grips with Lacan, for those who want an introduction to Lacan that is at once straightforward and fully serious, at once skeptical and generous, it is hard to imagine any other work that would serve as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Comparing psychoanalytic psychotherapies.

Reviews the book, Comparing psychoanalytic psychotherapies by James Masterson, Marian Tolpin, and Peter Sifneos (see record 1991-97790-000). There has been growing interest in recent years in the treatment of the difficult patient who usually comes under the diagnostic categories of Borderline and Narcissistic Personality Disorders. Self Psychology and Object Relations theories have developed particularly refined approaches to working with these personality disorders. For the neuroses, Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy has been another new technique. This book attempts to better define the similarities and differences between these contrasting approaches. This book of dialogues is potentially interesting and useful to clinicians who are already experienced in working with Borderline and Narcissistic Disorders and are looking for deeper understanding of these phenomena. The comparison with short-term treatment of neurotics is less relevant and for comparison sake has limited value. The format makes it difficult to read, but renders the authors, their ideas, and their interventions more real to the reader. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The mystery of things.

Review of book: Christopher Bollas (Au.) The mystery of things. New York: Routledge, 1999, 203 pp.. Reviewed by Eileen A. Kohutis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Revisiting Ernst Kris's concept of Regression in the service of the ego in art.

This article attempts a critical reexamination of the usefulness of Ernst Kris's concept regression in the service of the ego. Although the term was initially welcomed and applied to many psychological and creative phenomena, it was later criticized and, eventually, disappeared in the literature. Regression in creativity is allotted a central place, and it is argued that one must depathologize the concept of regression as well as expand its terminology to reflect advances in object relations theory. Regression that takes place in artmaking, and in the aesthetic response to it, is compared with regression that takes place in psychoanalytic treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The anatomy of psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, The anatomy of psychotherapy by Lawrence Friedman (see record 1988-97848-000). The authors' aim is to clarify the various theories of psychoanalysis from Freud to the current and to examine in depth the personal features of the analyst in the context of his/her work. With a knowledge of the entire range of psychoanalytic literature rare with most theorists or practitioners, the author reviews the philosophical developments of Freudian theory. He includes in this review some of the frictions, disputes and subtle disagreements within the classical analytic tradition. He then proceeds to describe the most significant of the contemporary deviations from classical theory (e.g., object relations, interpersonal theory, self psychology, action language) and compares and contrasts them with each other. Friedman has long been a commentator on contemporary psychoanalytic developments and he has adapted his many articles into this work. The book itself is organized into six sections, focusing on the personal and theoretical. It is well written but quite dense. Much concentration is needed. I believe that one must have an interest in psychoanalytic theory as well as a rather sophisticated appreciation of it to truly enjoy this book. It is long and detailed and I imagine difficult to get through without an intrinsic interest in the "anatomy" of psychoanalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Structures of Subjectivity: Explorations in Psychoanalytic Phenomenology.

Contends that since Kohut's death, a new generation of self psychologists continues to push forward into the areas he pioneered. In Structures of Subjectivity, Atwood and Stolorow offer a valuable new perspective within this psychoanalytic movement. They present their perspective in the form of a well-organized, comprehensive framework that speaks to the fundamental issues of psychoanalytic psychology--personality, development, psychopathology, and clinical theory and technique. The foundation for this psychological framework consists of the intriguing concepts of "structures of experience" and "intersubjectivity." At the heart of Structures of Subjectivity lies an epistemological dilemma about the nature of psychoanalytic phenomenology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Empirical Studies of Psychoanalytic Theories, Volume 2.

This text consists of 7 chapters. With one exception, each author reviews his or her own programmatic research, along with related empirical and theoretical findings. This was also the format in Volume 1. The reviewer found a commonality in these contributions--representing as they do vital, but varied approaches to experimental psychoanalytic psychology--an interest in the question: What is the nature and the development of thinking and how does it vary in psychopathological states? Volume 2 provides a general education to the psychoanalyst and also stimulates and extends his or her theoretical and research interests. The chapters, different as they are in methodology, topic, and style of presentation, represent a shared and successful effort to further knowledge through a reasoned psychoanalytic empiricism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Relational concepts in psychoanalysis.

Reviews the book, Relational concepts in psychoanalysis by Stephen A. Mitchell (see record 1988-98472-000). This book is a landmark statement for psychoanalytic theory, and especially of the place of relational theory. It stands outside and above the field, viewing developments over the century since Freud began his explorations. Mitchell compares each of the major positions of psychoanalytic theory specifically to the new model he proposes, which he calls a "relational-conflict model." This model is neither the "drive-conflict" model derived centrally from Freud, nor the "developmental-arrest" model that Mitchell associates with Winnicott and Kohut. Mitchell's model is closest to those proposed by Fairbairn and Racker, but he also relies heavily on Sullivan, Loewtild, Schafer, and other modern writers who have contributed to a view of the individual as centered in the human environment and interactive with it. Mitchell has given us a first-rate book, a scholarly and inventive synthesis with welcome conclusions. The clarity and thoughtfulness of his statement make this book worthy of study, even for those who take issue with him. I believe he takes us as far as analytic theory can go at the moment towards blending the worlds of the intrapsychic and the interpersonal. Mitchell notes that theories are, after all, only metaphors to be used and examined. His own statement seems a particularly sensible and comprehensive one. There is room to grow in psychoanalytic theory and technique. Mitchell makes it abundantly clear that psychoanalysis is not only alive, but is entering an exciting period of synthesis and new growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The dissociative mind.

Reviews the book, The dissociative mind by Elizabeth F. Howell (see record 2005-14945-000). In her book, The Dissociative Mind, Elizabeth Howell presents a complex and thorough overview of what she describes as a "sea change" in psychoanalytic theory. From her vantage point as both psychoanalyst and traumatologist, she demonstrates how, in the last 15-20 years, relational trauma and the resulting impact on the individual mind-namely the splits and fissures that comprise dissociation- have made their way back into psychoanalytic thinking. Howell's elaboration of the overwhelmed, traumatized mind is very useful in clients who present with problems in thinking or who have limited capacity to symbolize. However, detailed clinical material of how an analyst thinking of dissociated self states would work with such a client, what Bromberg termed the "relational bridge," would support her fundamental assertions more effectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Recent developments in psychoanalysis: A critical evaluation.

Reviews the book, Recent developments in psychoanalysis: A critical evaluation by Morris N. Eagle (see record 1987-98252-000). This is, I believe, one of the most important books of psychoanalytic scholarship to emerge in the last few years. Morris Eagle has written a book that reviews and attempts to bring clarity to some of these newer speculations, while simultaneously seeking to maintain those aspects of historical scholarship that can withstand the test of time and prove relevant today. Eagle critically assesses the contributions of object relations theory, instinct theory, the psychoanalytic theory of therapy, problems of metapsychology and psychoanalytic epistemology, self psychology, the role of evidence in the formulation of clinical theory, the structural model of the mind, and the psychoanalytic theory of anxiety; that he is able to do so succinctly and coherently is a testimony to the focused intensity of much of the thinking in this provocative book. In conclusion, whether one agrees or not with Eagle's points, this book may be profitably read by students, psychologists, and psychoanalysts interested in the contemporary psychoanalytic scene. It joins a growing body of recent critical scholarship seeking to render psychoanalysis as a more humane, tough, and thoughtful discipline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The concept of structure in psychoanalysis.

Reviews the book, The concept of structure in psychoanalysis by Theodore Shapiro (see record 1991-97355-000). The present volume is a hardcover edition of a previous supplement to the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association based on a series of panels presented at meetings of the American on the role of the concept of structure in current psychoanalytic theory and practice. The result can be taken as a more or less authoritative expression of current thinking about structure in orthodox analytic circles. As such, the volume is informative and in many regards thought provoking. But if readers are looking for a coherent, consistent, and consensually endorsed presentation of the idea of structure, or for a uniform conceptualization of the nature of psychic structure and its role in psychoanalytic praxis, they will have to look elsewhere. The volume is more remarkable for its diversity and often contradictory views on the nature of structure and the relevance of structure to clinical work in the analytic setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The I.

The reviewer notes that a professor of English and psychoanalyst, Norman Holland brings us illumination in the direction of humanity in an age when the mechanistic theme has become so prevalent in psychology, psychiatiry and psychoanalysis. Holland informs us of individuality, of uniqueness apart from the statistical heavy hand. Acknowledging his debt to Erikson and Lichtenstein, Holland uses the concept of identity to bring into coherence an individual's lifelong behavior. He views identity as a theme or style albeit with variations, that characterizes an individual from inchoation to the very end. Obstructions and interferences with the identity theme constitute frustrations, which in turn lead to crises and to the bevy of aberrations observed in the consultation room, in life, and in literature. In other words, we track the exquisitely fragile "I" and its vicissitudes. Although we are constantly doing new things, our "style" never changes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)