Review of Handbook of interpersonal psychoanalysis and Pioneers of interpersonal psychoanalysis.

Reviews the books, Handbook of interpersonal psychoanalysis, edited by Marylou Lionells, John Fiscalini, Carola H. Mann, and Donnel B. Stern (see record 1995-99011-000) and Pioneers of interpersonal psychoanalysis, edited by Donnel B. Stern, Carola H. Mann, Stuart Kantor, and Gary Schlesinger (see record 1995-99013-000). Of all the principal psychoanalytic schools in contemporary America--Freudian or classical, object relations, self psychological, and interpersonal--the last has stood at the greatest remove from orthodoxy, in part because its founders, most notably Sullivan and Fromm, were not closely linked to the institutional centers. The growing emphasis of world analysis on relational experience, however, as both an influence on personality development and with important implications for treatment, has thrown most of the schools closer together, and the rich contributions of the so-called interpersonalists have made this proximity of even greater importance. The two books prompting these remarks are the most complete and forthright statements of the interpersonal position available. They provide an opportunity to review this position, its gradually emergent effects on clinical work particularly, and the problems and possible solutions resulting. Of course, this interpersonal effort at understanding both treatment and the self does not complete the story. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The current status of psychoanalytic theory.

In recent years, metapsychology has been effectively destroyed by a series of critiques, here summarized. Clinical psychoanalysis, its heart, is a testable scientific theory and need not be trivialized by being reduced to a hermeneutics, but it has been exposed by Grünbaum and Rubinstein as seriously lacking in empirical verification. Its genetic hypotheses are extremely difficult to test; the clinical case study is useful only as a means of generating hypotheses. As Rubinstein has shown, however, the clinical theory can be systematized and stated in probabilistic propositions testable by statistical research. Its fundamental propositions can be tested only by nonpsychoanalytic data, however. Object relations and self psychology have had a large vogue but do not address the fundamental theoretical problems. Those threaten the survival of psychoanalysis, but are being complacently ignored. Some possible solutions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychoanalysis in the undergraduate curriculum: The treatment of psychoanalytic theory in abnormal psychology texts.

Reviews 4 books on the topic of psychoanalytic theory in abnormal psychology texts. The purpose of this review is to encourage this process by evaluating some of the resources available for academic psychologists to teach psychoanalysis to undergraduate psychology students. The reviewer reviews several texts commonly employed in teaching undergraduate abnormal psychology and psychopathology courses, with the aim of evaluating the extent to which they accurately reflect the breadth and complexity of psychoanalytic thought as it applies to these areas of inquiry. The books reviewed here were chosen on the basis of two criteria: (a) They are popular, widely used undergraduate abnormal psychology texts; and (b) they represent a range of perspectives on psychoanalysis, with some books written from a psychodynamic perspective, and others generally opposed to the psychoanalytic view. Each text is reviewed in three general areas. First, the reviewer evaluates the extent to which each thoroughly and accurately discusses basic psychoanalytic theory as it presents various models of mental functioning. Treatment of key psychoanalytic concepts such as ego development and defenses, compromise formation, symptom substitution, fixation and regression, and the psychosexual stages is evaluated, as is the extent to which each work attempts to integrate the object-relations perspective into its discussion. Second, the reviewer reviews each text's presentation of the psychodynamic model for selected areas of psychopathology (e.g., depression, schizophrenia, addiction and addictive behaviors, character pathology, and sexual disorders). Finally, the extent to which each work discusses the relationship of basic psychoanalytic theory to the use of projective tests such as the Rorschach and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is considered, as is each text's treatment of psychoanalytic concepts underlying the development of the medical model and the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III, 1980). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The triangle of interpersonal models.

This article develops a framework for social psychology, the triangle of interpersonal models (TIM). TIM is a 2-dimensional classification scheme for the impact of people on social-psychological phenomena. TIM classifies a social-psychological phenomenon by the number of people who contribute to the phenomenon and the number of distinct social-psychological functions that those people serve. TIM includes models for phenomena that involve 1 person, 2 people, 3 people, and p people. In those phenomena, people serve 1, 2, 3, or f distinct social-psychological functions. TIM decomposes complex phenomena into components that reflect different levels of interpersonal causation. It brings rigor to holistic conceptions of social psychology and offers a fresh perspective on the relationship between the individual and the group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Generalization of interpersonal similarity.

Ss were led to believe that their preferences (among eight pairs of tunes) were similar to those of 1 of 2 other individual's preferences. Subsequently, it was discovered that S tended to show similar preference for other stimuli (nonsense syllables, pairs of girl's names) to those of the individual with whom they initially agreed. The results were interpreted in terms of a cognitive theory of identification and related to the conditions under which projection and introjection might take place. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HJ50S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relational self: An interpersonal social-cognitive theory.

The authors propose an interpersonal social-cognitive theory of the self and personality, the relational self, in which knowledge about the self is linked with knowledge about significant others, and each linkage embodies a self-other relationship. Mental representations of significant others are activated and used in interpersonal encounters in the social-cognitive phenomenon of transference (S. M. Andersen & N. S. Glassman, 1996), and this evokes the relational self. Variability in relational selves depends on interpersonal contextual cues, whereas stability derives from the chronic accessibility of significant-other representations. Relational selves function in if-then terms (W. Mischel & Y. Shoda, 1995), in which ifs are situations triggering transference, and thens are relational selves. An individual's repertoire of relational selves is a source of interpersonal patterns involving affect, motivation, self-evaluation, and self-regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychoanalytic theory in the context of contemporary psychology: The Helen Block Lewis memorial address.

This article represents a tribute to the late Helen Block Lewis's commitment to integrating psychology and psychoanalysis. The current status of the formal structure of psychoanalytic theory was reviewed in relation to recent developments in general psychology. Specific attention was paid to the psychodynamic or motivational perspective, the structural perspective, and the genetic or developmental perspective as proposed by Rapaport. Following an examination of current trends in psychoanalysis and of the shift from a drive-, hydraulic energy model toward a relational model, specific proposals were made about the role of emotions as motives, and the implications of the tension between attachment or affiliation versus autonomous or self-esteem needs. In the structural perspective it was proposed that, as in social psychology, emphasis has shifted from the id, ego, superego model to a more specific focus on self schemas and belief systems. The recent emphasis in cognitive and social psychology on out-of-awareness processes suggests a new interest in the so-called topographical model of conscious and unconscious processes. At the developmental level the dominance of the object relations model meshes well with recent child research... (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Grief as pathology: The evolution of grief theory in psychology from Freud to the present.

The emergence of grief as a topic worthy of psychological study is an early 20th century invention. Freud published his influential essay on mourning and melancholia in 1917. Since he proposed the concept of “grief work,” contemporary psychologists have examined his theory empirically and have claimed that grief is a pathology that should be included within the psychological domain. How, and why, has grief theory evolved within the discipline of psychology in this way? In what ways do these changes in the understanding of grief coincide with other historical developments within the discipline? In this article, I trace the development of grief, originally conceived by Freud within a psychoanalytic and nonpathological framework, to the current conceptualization of grief within the disease model. I show how grief theory has evolved within the discipline of psychology to become (a) an object worthy of scientific study within the discipline, and subsequently, (b) a pathology to be privatized, specialized, and treated by mental health professionals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Social Learning and Clinical Psychology.

Reviews the book "Social learning and clinical psychology," by Julian B. Rotter (see record 2005-06617-000). The stated purpose of this book is to arrive at a systematic theory from which may be drawn specific principles for actual clinical practice, and to illustrate some of the more important applications of the theory to the practice. The first three chapters represent for the most part a clear and incisive introduction to the major purpose of the book, chapters which can be read with profit by all clinical psychologists. The next four chapters, which represent the bulk of the book, contain the aims and concepts of Rotter's social learning position as well as the ways in which it differs from other approaches. Rotter's discussion and evaluation of psychoanalytic theory is amazingly superficial and, to the unwary graduate student, misleading. First, it represents one of the few attempts to formulate and apply a learning theory to clinical phenomena and problems-the more such courageous attempts we have, the better will we be able to evaluate the adequacy of such theories. Second, Rotter's formulations have generated a relatively large number of studies at The Ohio State University-a tribute not only to Rotter's effectiveness as a teacher but a reflection of the fruitfulness of the formulations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The status of psychoanalytic theory today: There is an elephant there.

The proliferation of theoretical claims of reference in psychoanalysis today is critiqued. It is argued that personality exists as an experiential whole; the parts of that experience should not be taken to represent the whole. The author ends the Paper with a call for a holistic theory that represents all the parts, just as Freud (1954) tried to do. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Mental illness" or interpersonal behavior?

"There is no such thing as a 'mental illness' in any significantly meaningful sense. The plain fact is that the term 'mental illness' is applied in an indiscriminate way to a motley collection of interpersonal behavior patterns. Mental illness is a phenomenon involving interpersonal behavior, not a health or medical problem. Programs of alleviation and prevention must therefore rest upon a systematic understanding of interpersonal conduct. Suitable psychological terminology is badly needed to clarify numerous vaguely worded, inappropriately phrased and poorly understood questions in psychology today." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of today's woman: New psychoanalytic visions.

Reviews the book, The psychology of today's woman: New psychoanalytic visions, edited by Toni Bernay and Dorothy W. Cantor (see record 1989-98207-000). The contributors introduce this work with their concern about the applicability of analytic theory to the changing realities of today's women, questioning the idea that women's behavior is either "sick" or "well." The book, divided into four sections, reexamines and reframes conventional conceptions under four headings: Traditional Visions of Femininity Reassessed; New Visions of Femininity; Today's Women; and Therapeutic Relationships. There are some important populations of women omitted or treated only in passing in this collection of essays, for example, cross-cultural therapy, treatment of abuse and incest victims, alcoholism, eating and sexual disorders, a feminist approach to the treatment of depression, and lesbianism. Nevertheless, there are many innovative approaches to a variety of problems and this book, oriented for practitioners as well as students and researchers, provides fresh models for psychoanalytically oriented therapy for women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Heterosexual masculinities: Contemporary perspectives from psychoanalytic gender theory.

Reviews the book, Heterosexual masculinities: Contemporary perspectives from psychoanalytic gender theory edited by Bruce Reis and Robert Grossmark (see record 2009-01378-000). Could Freud, and subsequent psychoanalytic theorists, have been as wrong about the psychology of men as they were about women? The organizing premise of this useful new collection of essays is that psychoanalytic gender theory, including the explosion of new gender theory over the past 40 years, has never adequately addressed the topics of masculinity and male heterosexuality. This volume makes a compelling case for that premise, and at the same time represents a promising start in addressing the deficiencies in existing theory. (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)