Action language and clinical technique: A reply to Spence.

In this paper I reply to Spence's (see record 1983-01504-001) criticism of Schafer's action language theory as applied to work with patients. Spence assumes that such an application will replace the analytic situation with adversarial confrontation. This would supposedly come about largely through badgering the patient to produce reasons for his behavior and blaming him both for the behavior and for not producing the right reasons for it. He also foresees an overly specific and desiccated language replacing the metaphors and allusions that accurately portray experience. Spence's concerns rest on his assuming that Schafer's ideas would be applied clinically in ways that no one need do even if employing the ideas theoretically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Something wicked this way comes: Trauma, dissociation, and conflict: The space where psychoanalysis, cognitive science, and neuroscience overlap.

Even in routine analytic work, for what is dissociated to become symbolized and available to conflict resolution, a patient must experience sufficient interpersonal safety to free working memory while activation of unprocessed dissociated experience is taking place. The author proposes that this necessary synthesis of affective security and relational risk depends on what a given patient and analyst do in an unanticipated way that is safe but not too safe--an enactment of the relational failures of a patient's past while allowing "safe surprises" in the here-and-now to occur. Remarkable convergence is found between cognitive research (W. Bucci, 2003), neuroscience research (J. E. LeDoux, 2002), and an interpersonal/relational psychoanalytic approach that works at the interface of dissociation and conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: Jean Piaget (1896-1980).

Obituary for Jean Piaget (1896-1980). The current author recalls some of his experiences in working with Piaget, who was both a colleague and a mentor. He states that Piaget was truly a man of heroic, even epic, proportions. And yet, as the author suggests in this article, Piaget was warmly human too. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Role of Traumatic Experience in Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia.

Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy and psychoanalysis proper are widely considered by other clinicians to be inappropriate treatment modalities for patients with symptoms of agoraphobia and panic attack. The author presents a clinical hypothesis about the role of traumatic experience for these patients. The hypothesis is compatible with some ideas that have appeared in the clinical literature, and yet it has some distinctive features. Suggestions are offered as to some of the implications of this hypothesis for analytic treatment as well as for analytically oriented therapies that are integrated with psychopharmacological interventions and cognitive-behavioral approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The ambiguity of the psychoanalytic situation and its relation to the analyst's reverie.

This article is about ambiguity in psychoanalysis, an ambiguity that is particularly striking in the psychoanalytic relationship between patient and analyst. The analyst is a professional in his consulting room, in his chair behind the patient, but he is at the same time a figure in the patient's realization of his inner world of objects. The analyst is a transference figure, but he is also a real person with his own inner private reverie and a subjective contribution to the analytic process. For some patients, the ambiguous analyst is an enormous challenge or threat. This article describes parts of the analytic process with one such patient, a man with an early history of severe trauma who at the start of his treatment completely denied this ambiguity and felt every reminder of his analyst being anything else but professional as a threat to his sanity. The author tries to show how the improvement of the patient's tolerance for ambiguity depended on the work done in the analyst's private reverie, a quite demanding process for the analyst. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Middle-class waifs. The psychodynamic treatment of affectively disturbed children.

Reviews the book, Middle-class waifs. The psychodynamic treatment of affectively disturbed children by Elaine V. Siegel (see record 1991-98014-000). Most of this book is devoted to case histories of children and their parents who have relatively severe emotional problems yet can be sufficiently responsive to psychotherapy so that positive changes occur. Particularly impressive are the ways in which the author, in her therapeutic role, overcomes the resistances presented by both children and parents. She is clearly an excellent therapist, who would probably be effective regardless of orientation, and her manner of working with people has applicability for all psychotherapists. Her appreciation of the necessary balance in understanding the needs of children and their parents is an exemplary model of what it really means to respect the personhood of patients. One of the intriguing possibilities in this book is the case that is made for the broad applicability of psychoanalytic theory and treatment. During a time in which psychodynamic work is being criticized as taking too long, costing too much, and producing too little, the author offers quite a convincing demonstration of its value. The negative consequences of increased disparagement of this approach are also made apparent, so that a definite step is taken to restore the worth of treatment options. Any limitations of this book are minor, relative to the excellent portrayal of the process of psychotherapy with difficult patients that too often frighten or overwhelm people who could help them if the helpers would let themselves discover how. This work by a master clinician definitely points the way. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quo ibimus?

This letter complains about sites for the American Psychological Association (APA) convention, which the author considers grossly inadequate. He protests that those in psychology who select convention sites and make arrangements refuse to recognize that APA members are a large group and that most cities are simply too inadequate to handle a meeting of 6,000 some odd people. He suggests limiting convention sites to those cities that are really geared to handle conventions this size, such as New York City, Chicago, and Miami Beach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating the evidence: Can we find authenticated recovered memory?

In the waning of the controversy over recovered memories of trauma, the question may be asked, What evidence is there that the phenomenon exists, not in disputed form, but in accurate and validated form? Because no memory can be authenticated in isolation, some form of corroboration is required. A single instance of validly recovered memory demonstrates the existence of the phenomenon. Can such a case be found? In search of the answer, a wide variety of case reports is surveyed. Only a few are without major flaws, but those few are provocative because, for the most part, they deviate substantially in context and content from the recovered memories most frequently described in the clinical literature. This casts doubt on the historical authenticity of therapeutically recovered memories and makes relevant for practice the possibility that they represent commentaries about the analytic present and not revelations about the historic past. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collusions as interactive resistances and possible stepping-stones out of impasses.

Collusion is defined as a resistance between therapist and patient in which the transference and countertransference become interlocked in a tacit agreement to avoid a mutually fantasized catastrophe. Collusions are possible because therapist and patient share an unconscious, fearful remembrance of the breakdown of the function of the primary object. Although usually described as destructive for the treatment, collusions might also protect the psychotherapy by preventing disillusions from occurring too quickly. It is argued that when the therapist has been sufficiently recognized as a container function, the progress of change can continue and often does so by means of a sudden shift generated by changes in the analytic setting. Theory is illustrated with case material from a patient suffering from chronic schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to a new series of interviews on the future of psychoanalysis.

When Elliot first took over as editor of Psychoanalytic Psychology and invited Jeremy to join the editorial board, we met for lunch to brainstorm about new directions for the journal. One of the schemes we hatched was the idea of developing a special issue consisting of articles by prominent figures in the field, reflecting on the future of psychoanalysis. This article discusses some of the details of this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospects for psychoanalysis in the 21st century.

This article is responding to the question: what is it that will enrich and sustain the discipline of psychoanalysis during the remainder of the twenty-first century. I argue that continued vitality requires that analysis demonstrate its value and utility in relation to other psychologically relevant fields of human inquiry. Analysis cannot afford to remain isolated within the private confines of the analytic consulting room, but it must also dare to cast its lot with the uncertainties of ongoing research and understanding arising in other related fields. I begin analysis of these problems by discussing first some organizational issues that might facilitate such collaboration and communication, and then some issues related to interdisciplinary collaborative research. I focus particularly on questions related to the dialogue between psychoanalysis and religious thought and between psychoanalysis and neuroscience. These are only two among a multiplicity of fields in which interdisciplinary opportunities arise, but they exemplify the basic challenges to continued psychoanalytic progress and innovation. I finish with some thoughts about the diversity of analytic theoretical conceptualizations and their implications for facilitating or inhibiting such interdisciplinary efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conversation with Jay Greenberg.

This is an interview with Jay Greenberg. He discusses concepts surrounding psychoanalytic psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

One With the Wind: A Comment on Strenger's (2004) "Of Potholes and Bends: A Meditation on Psychoanalysis and Motorcycle Riding".

Rightly, I believe, does Carlo Strenger (see record 2004-21113-014) focus on the need, in life and in psychoanalysis, to look forward and not backward, to trust that good and competent teachers will guide individuals until they can guide themselves. In motorcycle riding, such guidance, as Strenger makes clear, has its roots in a caring desire to help the neophyte motorcyclist--not unlike what a therapist must bring to his or her work. And, as is obvious, whom one selects as a coach, or analyst, is crucial; in motorcycling, one trusts one's very life to a teacher. Rightly does Strenger relate this capacity to trust to Winnicott's (and, I might add, Erikson's) understanding of a child's earliest relationships. In this short yet interesting meditation, Strenger takes us through the developmental stages of learning to master the motorcycle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The legacy of Sándor Ferenczi.

Reviews the book, The legacy of Sándor Ferenczi edited by Lewis Aron and Adrienne Harris (see record 1993-97894-000). The legacy of Sándor Ferenczi includes chapters by 20 analysts and psychotherapists who comment on Ferenczi's work and its significance to psychoanalysis. The book grew out of a number of professional panels and conferences organized by the editors during the past few years to focus attention on and reexamine Ferenczi's contributions to psychoanalysis. His clinical diary (Ferenczi, 1932/1988), which became available in 1988, has also enriched our knowledge about his work, especially his experiment of mutual analysis with Elizabeth Severn, whom he refers to as RN. None of the contributors to this collection improve on Ferenczi's insights in "Confusion of Tongues" concerning the relationship of patient and therapist, but the collection is especially useful in exploring Ferenczi's differences with Freudian technique and understanding Freud's skepticism about the new techniques. Arnold Rachman writes that Ferenczi was the first psychoanalyst to argue for a training analysis as a personal analysis, not a didactic analysis. "He wanted the healers to be as well analyzed as the people they wanted to heal" (p. 93). The purpose was to equip the analyst to use feelings and intuitions as tools--to analyze with heart and libido as well as with intellect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to Tabin's (1995) review of Affect in Psychoanalysis.

Spezzano replies to Tabin's 1995 review of his book Affect in Psychoanalysis (see record 1993-97622-000). Spezzano addresses Tabin's impression that he wrote the entire volume only to make the point that affects matter. He points out that the argument in the book is that not only were affects implicitly or explicitly treated as derivatives of something else in each psychoanalytic theory, but that there is a possibility of pulling elements from seemingly incompatible theories together if one assumes affects to be the foundational elements of psychological life rather than derivative. Spezzano makes several other detailed points about his views on Tabin's review of his book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analytic effectiveness.

This report summarizes a panel that addressed from a pragmatic point of view the concept of analytic effectiveness. Leston Havens defined effectiveness in terms of the personal qualities of the analyst, suggesting that the fate of treatment depends on who the analyst is. He illustrated this idea with examples drawn from Harry Stack Sullivan, Elvin Semrad, and Havens's own analysis. Stephen Mitchell discussed effectiveness in terms of the interplay of directiveness and nondirectiveness in psychoanalysis and offered an alternative perspective to the classical model for thinking about these modes of intervention. Owen Renik addressed the issue of analytic goals, emphasizing the importance of the analyst openly discussing his or her treatment goals to explore the patients' implicit goals and to confront hidden assumptions about authority that can impede analytic work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The power of countertransference: Innovations in analytic technique.

Reviews the book, The power of countertransference: Innovations in analytic technique by Karen J. Maroda (see record 1994-98465-000). This is a remarkable and provocative book. On first examination, I thought it was going to be another diatribe against psychoanalytic theory and practice. In the introduction and first chapter, which Maroda entitles: "The Myth of Authority," she points out all of the flaws that she sees in the typical attitude of psychoanalytically oriented analysts. She criticizes the so-called "neutrality" of the analytic position, the authoritarian position of the analyst and the excess emphasis of interpretation as the most critical aspect of the "cure" in psychoanalysis. The rest of the book, however, focuses on countertransference techniques; that is, how to accomplish the countertransference. Maroda's clinical vignettes and technical discussions are detailed and useful. Although one might take issue with some specific clinical points, her discussion is well formulated and her case well argued. This is a rather brief and, at first blush, simple book. It is, however, an important statement of a position on countertransference that is both ground breaking, and a careful exposition. It is one that needs serious attention by both students and advanced clinicians. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Meeting Freud's family.

Reviews the book, Meeting Freud's family by Paul Roazen (see record 1993-99040-000). Over the years, Roazen has built a reputation as an expert on Freud. This is not a view to which many Freud scholars would be inclined to subscribe, but their opinions do not reach the general educated public to any appreciable extent. For most people, anything written about Freud that is thought to carry authority is considered informed comment on the psychoanalytic discipline itself. Roazen's new book is likely to be seized on for further enlightenment and, in view of its title, for inside information. "This book," he tells us, "is an attempt to re-create--based on my understanding of the place of psychoanalysis in intellectual history--the world of Freud's family life" (p. 16). What he wants to report is "the whole ambience surrounding these, people, and how their lives said something special about Freud" (p. 16). He wants to do this on the basis of personal interviews. The family Roazen met were two of Freud's daughters, Anna Freud (in 1965) and Mathilda (Hollitscher) Freud (1966), and one son, Oliver Freud (1966). Anna Freud granted him two interviews; the others appear to have seen him on only one occasion. He also interviewed Martin Freud's estranged wife, Esti, in the spring and summer of 1966. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction.

The editor of this special issue on child analytic work briefly characterizes the focus of the included works. This special issue on child analytic work contains articles on child psychoanalysis, childhood play, the role of the parent in child work, and the analytic process. Two book reviews complete the picture. Child psychoanalysis richly rewards us and stimulates us toward continuous exploration, development, and understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)