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 The Sexual Body: An Interdisciplinary Perspective.

This book is a psychoanalytically based compendium of studies about the "sexual body." Each of the chapters contains reviews of research and theories, presenting multiple views of the body and its importance as a psychological entity. Space is devoted to discussions of Reich, Bowlby, Peterfreund, Kohut, Lichtenstein, Holland, and Lacan. Topics such as the sexual revolution, George Bernard Shaw, Robert Frost, orgasm, homosexuality, and the theory of evolution are included. Efron attempts to remove shame and guilt regarding the body's sexual components. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Other times, other realities: Toward a theory of psychoanalytic treatment.

Reviews the book, Other times, other realities: Toward a theory of psychoanalytic treatment by Arnold H. Modell (see record 1990-97902-000). This book is addressed to the psychoanalytically sophisticated reader. Its introduction and 10 chapters take the reader through a history of ideas that have been postulated to explain why psychoanalysis works. Interspersed are valuable comments by Modell that include his own original contributions to the discussion. Chapter 1 revolves around Freud and Nachtr?glichkeit. Chapter 2 illuminates the paradoxical relation between reality and illusions that is manifested in the analytic setting. The concept of reality and its various levels are examined in chapter 3. Chapter 4 discusses the neurobiological theories of Edelman, who postulates that memory is not isomorphic with past experience but a recategorization. Modell sees different levels of reality as corresponding to different forms of transference. He relabels transference neurosis as iconic/projective transference and the transference derived from the setting as dependent/containing transference. Chapter 5 amplifies his remarks on linear and cyclic time. Chapter 6 discusses interpretation and chapter 7 examines the concept of resistance. Other chapters deal with the patient's use of the therapist, with paradox and therapeutic dilemmas, and with various theories of psychoanalytic treatment. Modell tries to classify contemporary theories of psychoanalytic treatment but recognizes such attempts as little more than convenient fictions. (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 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 The religious and romantic origins of psychoanalysis: Individuation and integration in post-Freudian theory.

Reviews the book, The religious and romantic origins of psychoanalysis: Individuation and integration in post-Freudian theory by Suzanne R. Kirschner (see record 1996-97744-000). Kirschner traces the origins of contemporary psychoanalytic thought back to the foundations of Judeo-Christian culture, challenging the prevailing assumption that modern theories of the self constitute a serious break from religious and cultural tradition. She suggests that current psychoanalytic theories are simply the latest version of a progressively secularized narrative that has been in process for the past two millennia. (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)     

Review of Meeting Movies.

Reviews the book, Meeting Movies by Norman N. Holland (see record 2006-11509-000). Meeting Movies is a very personal book in which Holland discusses eight films that have been personally meaningful to him. These films are Casablanca, Vertigo, The Seventh Seal, Freud, Persona, Children of Paradise, Shakespeare in Love, and 8 1/2. Holland describes what he was doing with his life when he saw each of these films, and he discusses how each film affected his life and his career. Some of the movies were seen relatively recently, and some were first viewed over half a century ago. In reading the book, it becomes apparent that Holland loves films. Whenever text is in Roman type, Holland is operating in his reader-response critic mode, and the discussion reads much like any other film criticism. However, the most interesting parts of the book occur when Holland is in free association mode, writing about whatever thoughts the movie being discussed brings to mind. These instances are set off from the regular text by use of italicized text. In summary, Meeting Movies is a good read. Holland is well versed in psychology and especially psychoanalytic approaches, and his criticism of these eight films is consistently interesting. His willingness to self-disclose makes this book all the more fascinating. The book will be rewarding for anyone genuinely interested in the interface of psychology and film. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The playground of psychoanalytic therapy.

Reviews the book, The playground of psychoanalytic therapy by Jean Sanville (see record 1991-98946-000). Sanville studies psychoanalytic therapy and uses play and playing as the focal point, the pivotal organizing concept. She reviews the theory of psychoanalytic development and the dynamics of clinical intervention, and she attempts to integrate the contribution of her favorite authors, such as Winnicott, Stern, Kohut, and as always, Freud. Thus, the book is a textbook of Sanville's vast theoretical clinical experiences with the motive to document that play is the essential organizing and integrating mental activity. A book rich in considering the fabric of psychoanalytic psychotherapy with its broad frame of reference must greatly limit the ideas of the author, and I wish that there could be a more complete integration of her propositions. It is a pleasure to follow Sanville's case vignettes and to observe her gift and sensitivity with which she tunes into the inner life of her patients. Sanville's book explores a new metapsychological dimension embedded in object relation propositions. The reader will find unexpected rewards. (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 Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications.

Reviews the book, Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications by Beverly Greene and Gregory M. Herek (1994). This volume is a collection of theoretical, research, and clinical articles which share in common only their focus of a psychological approach to gay and lesbian issues. Particularly admirable is the handling of a variety of lesbian issues including sexual pride and shame, physical appearance, and feminist politics of sexual orientation. There are also good articles on stereotypes and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. This volume moves the psychological study of lesbian and gay issues beyond being merely gay affirmative into looking at hard issues, and reconnecting gay studies with the larger body of psychological theory, research, and clinical practice. As a psychological potpourri of articles, it suggests what can be accomplished in lesbian and gay psychology. (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)     

Review of Psychoanalytic Interpretation in Rorschach Testing.

Reviews the book, Psychoanalytic Interpretation in Rorschach Testing by Roy Schafer (1954). This is one of the very few books on psychological testing addressed to the advanced worker. Many have been the books on Rorschach for novitiates, detailing how to administer and score the test; few have been the books on how also to interpret the results; and almost nonexistent have been the books dedicated to content analysis of the Rorschach. This is such a book. Additionally it is, to the best of this reviewer's knowledge, the first book that explicitly attempts to root the entire test firmly in a given personality theory, in this case the neo-analytic ego theory of the Freudian school. This book officially initiates a new trend in Rorschach interpretation, a trend that is heavily indebted to E. Schachtel. Schachtel demonstrated how the test could be utilized to ascertain the individual's attitude toward the test, the examiner, the entire test situation, and even to his own responses toward the inkblots, and how, from this information, the personality structure of the individual could be deduced. Taking his cue from Schachtel, but attempting to go beyond it, Schafer stresses content interpretation to the extent of eliminating most of the usual considerations of scores, percentages, and the like--not that such scores are completely unimportant, Schafer is careful to point out, but because he wishes to demonstrate how much may be achieved without them. Clearly, his book starts, not where other books leave off, but where other books have yet to probe. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Creativity: Theories and themes: Research, development, and practice.

Reviews the book, Creativity: Theories and themes: Research, development, and practice by Mark A. Runco (see record 2007-00543-000). This book consists of 11 chapters with the following titles: "Cognition and Creativity," "Developmental Trends and Influences on Creativity," "Biological Perspectives on Creativity," "Health and Clinical Perspectives," "Social, Attributional, and Organizational Perspectives," "Educational Perspectives," "History and Historiometry," "Culture and Creativity," "Personality and Motivation," "Enhancement and the Fulfillment of Potential," and "Conclusion: What Creativity Is and What It Is Not." Beyond this all-encompassing content, the volume is crammed with illustrations and with all those "boxes" that are so characteristic of introductory textbooks in psychology. Each chapter also begins with appropriate quotations and a didactic "Advanced Organizer." Finally, Runco closes with 63 pages of references and a 15-page subject index. The reviewer has one major complaint: Runco seems to have adopted an "open the floodgates" approach that sometimes results in the almost willy nilly insertion of ideas and material. One consequence of this tendency is that the illustrations and boxes are at times less useful than they ought to be. Another repercussion of Runco's leave-nothing-out approach is that it occasionally leads to the presentation of ideas with minimal if any discussion or commentary. The reviewer does assert though, that for someone in the market for a text for use in an introductory creativity course, a book that is wide-ranging and most current, Runco's Creativity is a good choice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory.

Greenberg and Mitchell's study of object relations in psychoanalytic theory is a valuable and insightful discussion and synthesis of disparate theoretical perspectives. Their work is timely in that the forefront of psychoanalytic theory and technique today is in the area of object relations; Greenberg and Mitchell's analysis of the object relations perspective is the most thorough, detailed, and complete theoretical discussions that the reviewer has read. In the reviewer's view, the book might have been strengthened if evidence other than theoretical and clinical material had been introduced in support of the authors' arguments, but their aim clearly did not involve assessing empirical support for object relations models. Thus, it is concluded that the authors' approach is valuable, but lacks breadth and denies the existence of some evidence that is potentially valuable in comparing different theoretical perspectives. (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 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)