Discussion of Dr. Patrick Zimmerman's article on Merton Gill's contributions to the evolution of psychoanalysis: A memorial commentary on Transitions in psychoanalysis.

Agrees with much of what P. Zimmerman has stated in his review (see record 2007-10643-001) of Merton Gill's book, Psychoanalysis in Transition: A Personal View (see record 1994-98473-000). The present author notes that Gill clarified and elaborated important dichotomies in psychoanalysis in multidimensional ways, and discusses Gill's constructivist or perspectivist position, wherein Zimmerman stated, "Gill's elaboration of this new constructivist or perspectivist metapsychology seems to be the major real determinant for the particular organization of [his] final book." While Gill used these terms interchangeably, the present author differentiates between them. The third point discussed relates to the fundamental question of what is curative in psychoanalysis. Zimmerman discussed Mitchell's critique of Gill's position that despite Gill's openmindedness to the importance of the analytic relationship, Gill maintained the traditional view that insight is central to cure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Interpretation and interaction: Psychoanalysis or psychotherapy?

Reviews the book, Interpretation and interaction: Psychoanalysis or psychotherapy? by Jerome D. Oremland (see record 1991-98021-000). This theoretically provocative and clinically substantive monograph cogently addresses the important and complex issues concerning the relationship between psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. The essentials of each are examined in terms of the relative contribution of the two variables entering into all therapeutic endeavors--interpretation and interaction. The author's thesis stems from his viewing Merton Gill's seminal work distinguishing psychoanalysis and psychotherapy as too inclusive. There are minor editorial mistakes involving spelling errors, typos, and omissions (e.g., Chapter 6 is not listed in the contents). Some readers may be put off by the author's tendency to make unequivocal and authoritative pronouncements as well as the psychoanalytically institutional context for many of the observations. Minor limitations notwithstanding, this is an important and easily read, integrative work that advances psychoanalytic psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arithmetic of a one- and two-person psychology: Merton M. Gill, an essay.

Presents a memorial essay on Merton M. Gill and his psychoanalytic beliefs. The author claims that Gill valued traditional psychoanalysis but saw limitations in its practice. According to the author, Gill focused on the transference-countertransference experience, maintaining that the dyad was unique. He agreed with the idea of 2 subjectivities, believing that each of the participants were shaped and shaping each other's psyche in this setting. He referred to this as a 2-person psychology, and maintained that there was also a 1-person psychology. Gill is credited for influencing novel conceptions about transference by highlighting the patient's plausible views of the transference. The author concludes that there is a need to establish whether there are significant differences between a 1- and a 2-person perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Relational theory and the practice of psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Relational theory and the practice of psychotherapy by P. L. Wachtel (see record 2008-01938-000). Having produced important texts involving the integration of a psychoanalytic perspective with cognitive–behavioral and family systems perspectives, in the current book he turns his attention to seemingly divergent lines of thought within psychoanalysis itself. Psychoanalysis—that variegated, continually branching and diversifying body of theory and practice that started with Sigmund Freud but which has moved so far beyond its origins so as to be almost unrecognizable in some respects—is certainly Wachtel’s primary home. In this book, Wachtel sets out to try and get the house in greater order, both for psychoanalytic inhabitants themselves and for visitors from other theoretical homes. The collection of psychoanalytic perspectives that have gradually taken context into account as being equally important to those factors that are internal are referred to as relational. And it is to these perspectives, which sometimes diverge in significant ways from each other and also from “one-person,” internally focused perspectives, that Wachtel devotes his attention in this book. With Relational theory and the practice of psychotherapy, Paul Wachtel has written an important book, one that will be particularly stimulating and useful to graduate-level-and-above students of psychotherapy. It will also be accessible, thought provoking and clarifying to open-minded psychotherapy practitioners of all stripes, particularly those who do not identify themselves as relational, psychoanalytic, or even psychodynamic. (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)     

Review of Rediscovering psychoanalysis: Thinking and dreaming, learning and forgetting.

Reviews the book, Rediscovering psychoanalysis: Thinking and dreaming, learning and forgetting by Thomas H. Ogden (see record 2009-01395-000). Ogden has deepened our understanding of how to make therapeutic use of strong emotional reactions to our patients as much as any contemporary psychoanalytic writer. In his most recent book is an enjoyable work that is capable of affecting readers in both intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant ways. This book consists of eight chapters that may best be thought of in two parts. In the first part, we see the author looking back and sharing his vast experience as clinician, teacher, supervisor and lifelong student of psychoanalytic practice. In the second part, the chapters are more consistent with earlier works and what many readers have come to expect from Ogden’s deep engagement with the canon of psychoanalytic theory. It should be said that this book may reach its best audience with relatively seasoned psychoanalytic practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Sexualities and homosexualities.

Reviews the book, Sexualities and homosexualities by Jaime P. Stubrin (see record 1994-97944-000). Stubrin's primary goal for this book is to outline the various theories that apply to an understanding of what he calls the sexual "deviations" ("perversions, neosexualities, and paraphilias"). He wants this consolidation of information to serve as a resource for psychoanalysts who may be feeling overwhelmed by all of the material on this topic. One theme repeated throughout the book is the need for analysts to approach "sexual deviants" with the "same affection and sympathy" which they feel toward obsessive, hysterical, borderline, or psychotic patients. Stubrin challenges the tendency in traditional psychoanalytic theory to assume mental illness or degenerative tendencies in those whose sexuality is not considered "normal." Throughout the book, Stubrin draws on literature, Freud's original work, and case examples to breathe life into his theoretical musings. The book is engaging and easy to read. At times, the translation (from Spanish) is quite choppy, but the ideas remain solidly stated. In summary, the reviewer believes that Stubrin accomplishes his primary goals of generating unrest and controversy through a challenging discussion of difficult psychoanalytic topics. The book will be of interest to those who hold very traditional psychoanalytic theoretical positions as well as those who work with the various sexualities. (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)     

Addendum.

Notes that Dr. Merton Gill, scholar, theorist, and psychoanalyst, passed away on November 13, 1994. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychoanalysis: Freud’s cognitive psychology.

Reviews the book, Psychoanalysis: Freud’s cognitive psychology by Matthew Hugh Erdelyi (see record 1985-97974-000). Few psychoanalytic clinicians or experimental psychologists ever bother to develop a historical or meta-theoretical perspective on their discipline, or pause to ponder the obstacles encountered and avenues taken or ignored en route to a synthesis between psychoanalytic, experimental and cognitive psychology. For those who have already pondered these issues somewhat, Erdelyi's book is a positive pleasure, full of penetrating insights, programmatic suggestions and astute historical reflections. For those new to the area, it is the best available introduction to the field, grounded, as it is, in a fluent grasp of the various methods and models of unconscious mental processes in these increasingly convergent fields of inquiry. (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 Speak of me as I am: The life and work of Masud Khan.

Reviews the book, Speak of me as I am: The life and work of Masud Khan by Judy Cooper (1993). Controversy surrounding M. Masud R. Khan the person usually crowds out serious consideration of his psychoanalytic writings. In Speak of me as I am, Judy Cooper, a psychotherapist in London, convincingly demonstrates that, despite his life, Khan's work has enduring value and would amply reward anyone who studies it. She has a difficult task, to give the reader a familiarity--and even sympathy--with Khan while not minimizing his always off-putting and frequently repulsive behavior. One would think that the task would be all the more daunting because she herself had an analysis with Khan from 1967 to 1973. Far from providing an idealized portrait of her former analyst, however, Cooper openly discusses Khan's shortcomings. The book is so successful in part because her years of closeness with him enable her to convey an insider's sense of what Khan was like. In a compact space--only 122 pages of text--Cooper achieves her main purposes: familiarizing the reader with Khan's life and work while also evaluating his contributions to psychoanalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Dispatches from the Freud wars: Psychoanalysis and its passions and Truth games: Lies, money and psychoanalysis.

Reviews the books, Dispatches from the Freud wars: Psychoanalysis and its passions by John Forrester (see record 1997-08548-000) and Truth games: Lies, money and psychoanalysis by John Forrester (see record 1997-36555-000). Although psychoanalysis has been attacked since its inception, the nature of the assaults has varied. Right now, it is being assailed in terms of the new trinity of race, class, and gender, to say nothing of its problematic position as a science, in a world that increasingly values technology. Even as a narrative system, it is accused of lacking credibility and causing damage more than cures. In Dispatches From the Freud Wars: Psychoanalysis and Its Passions, John Forrester, the philosopher and historian of science, provides a welcome cease-fire. Although his title refers to the current Freud wars, Forrester does not engage in any violent skirmish himself. Rather, he stands on the edge of battle, sending back reports from the defense as well as the enemy camp. His position is civilized rather than combative: balanced, measured, and a triumph of reason over id, perhaps too much so. Although the passions of Forrester's subtitle refer to the passions within psychoanalytic theory itself, the passions that it treats, and the passions that it arouses in its defendants as well as its opponents, Forrester himself is calm. Yet it is clear whose side he is on. Not that his book is only about the wars—in this sense, the title is misleading—for it treats such varied subjects as envy and justice, Ferenzi's love relationships, and Freud as a collector of artifacts as well as dreams. Readers coming to Forrester's most recent book, Truth Games: Lies, Money and Psychoanalysis, hoping to learn about the lies psychoanalysis reputedly tells (or the money it wrongly accrues) are going to be disappointed. This book grounds itself on the integrity of psychoanalysis. It never raises the question so prominent today of whether psychoanalytic theory is itself based on deception and fraud. While accepting that human beings lie and that patients' lies are somehow connected to psychoanalytic truth (insofar as they are revealing), it ignores the possibility of the lying analyst. In relation to truth, lies, and memory, Forrester writes that recognition of the importance of the transference led Freud to conclude that "success was achieved whether patient and analyst worked with memories or with impulses in the here and now" (Forrester, 1997, p. 77). He found "in free association and the analyst's withholding of belief and unbelief a means of isolating his practice from the problem of lying and deception" (p. 79). Following Lacan, Forrester notes that although psychoanalysis is predicated on the patient's telling the truth, its very techniques, such as free association, encourage the opposite. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New perspectives on development and their implications for psychoanalytic treatment.

Reviews the book, Psychoanalysis and infant research by Joseph D. Lichtenberg (1983). The burgeoning field of infant research has burst through the seams of our traditional view of infants. We now know that neonates are far more aware of their environment, more capable of eliciting responses from people, and more differentiated in their responses to caretakers and to a variety of external stimuli than we had ever believed. In part, this new knowledge has been gained through clever, creative experimentation by academic researchers. Experiments have been devised which are simple enough for neonatal responsiveness, yet offer relevant information about the infant's learning, cognitive, and emotional capacities. Joseph Lichtenberg's book, Psychoanalysis and infant research, presents this rich body of research. Were he content to offer us this new and absorbing view of the neonate, that alone would make the book interesting and worthwhile. Lichtenberg, however, is more ambitious. He sees important implications of infant research for various aspects of psychoanalytic theory and believes that a careful reading of the infancy data will "lead to reexamination of our theory" (p. 27). While the reviewer thinks there is much that infant research can offer to inform psychoanalytic theory, more empirical data are clearly needed from this area as well as from clinical research in the psychoanalytic setting. Lichtenberg deserves our gratitude both for calling our attention to some of the most important research findings that have emerged to date and for directing us to consider the implications of these findings for psychoanalytic theory and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A call for civility in the disability/assisted suicide debate.

The debate over legalization of physician-assisted suicide is inherently controversial, particularly where disability issues and physician-assisted suicide intersect. This is the area addressed by C. J. Gill (see record 2001-17060-021) and A. I. Batavia (see record 2001-17060-022) in this journal's recent special issue on hastened death. In replying to Batavia's commentary, Gill accused Batavia of generally misrepresenting Gill's positions and distorting facts. Here Batavia replies to the alleged errors that Gill identified. Batavia defends his assumption that, without state interference in the private relationship between individuals and their physicians, such individuals would be able to end their suffering with the assistance of their physicians. There was very little data to cite on the level of support of disabled people for a right to assisted suicide. Individuals who lack adequate opportunity to adapt to their disabilities cannot exercise real autonomy in choosing to end their lives. Batavia contends that most people with disabilities support the right to remove life-sustaining equipment, mirroring a strong consensus in American law and ethics that individuals should be allowed to refuse care they do not want. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The adaptive design of the human psyche: Psychoanalysis, evolutionary biology, and the therapeutic process.

Reviews the book, The adaptive design of the human psyche: Psychoanalysis, evolutionary biology, and the therapeutic process by Malcolm O. Slavin and Daniel Kriegman (see record 1992-98703-000). The authors have been "absorbed and possessed" for some 25 years by "vexing questions...about whether psychoanalytic notions about the seemingly irrational, conflict-filled nature of the human mind could be reconciled with the Darwinian search for the fundamentally adaptive designs that govern all living creatures" (p. vii). They are knowledgeable and sophisticated psychoanalytic theorists eminently qualified to address such questions, experienced and insightful clinicians, and deeply informed students of modern evolutionary knowledge and theory. This book records their current thinking; their passionate quest for answers continues. This review discusses three significant contributions this book makes to psychoanalytic thought: (a) Slavin and Kriegman's discussion of how evolutionary biology is relevant to psychoanalytic discourse, (b) their analysis of the underlying assumptions of two main psychoanalytic narratives--the classical and the relational--and their integration of these narratives into a new synthesis informed by evolutionary biology, and (c) their exploration of the hidden adaptive dimensions of familiar psychodynamic processes when these processes are viewed in an evolutionary context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychoanalytic participation: Action, interaction, and integration.

Reviews the book, Psychoanalytic participation: Action, interaction, and integration by Kenneth A. Frank (see record 1999-04095-000). Frank's book is an extremely timely, well-written, and scholarly book that integrates the recent developments within the two-person, relational perspective in contemporary psychoanalysis with an active, pragmatic approach that includes many cognitive and behavioral technical innovations. This book initially appears to be directed toward a psychoanalytic audience that is on the cusp of appreciating an expanding repertoire of active, cognitive, and behavioral approaches. However, Frank's presentation is so comprehensive and thoughtful that the book is also an excellent text for nonpsychoanalytic therapists (and students) to develop an understanding of the contemporary two-person, relational approaches to psychotherapy. Frank presents a deeply integrative approach that appears to be guided by a particular set of values that emphasize both a commitment to a pragmatic approach of helping patients reach their life goals and the therapist's self-understanding of the complexity, the interpersonal impact, and the meaning of all therapeutic events and interventions on both participants. This is an excellent book either for the psychoanalytic therapist who is ready to be more active and engaged with patients or for the cognitive and behavioral therapist who is ready to integrate a more dynamic, two-person approach to the transference-countertransference relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Intentional Changes.

Reviews the book, Intentional Changes by Allen Tough (1982). In this book, Allen Tough intends to reach an academic and professional audience with a plea for recognition of the importance of self-initiated changes. To support his "power to the person" message, Tough presents a large body of data from 150 intensive interviews in England, Canada, and the United States. Another 180 interviews contributed to the development of a formal interview schedule and of ideas. He identifies four major themes that emerge from his data--themes that underlie his arguments for greater personal freedom and for the provision of non-intrusive help to facilitate the use of that freedom. The reviewer found the book to be an interesting and worthwhile book to read, although the data presented are too flawed to be persuasive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Awakening the dreamer: Clinical journeys.

Reviews the book, Awakening the dreamer: Clinical journeys by Philip M. Bromberg (see record 2006-08993-000). Engaging with the many dimensions of Bromberg’s absorbing writing opens the reader/clinician, of whatever theoretical persuasion, to other self states and new and “other” thoughts about the psychoanalytic process. Bromberg approaches psychoanalytic work in a deeply personal manner that enables him to articulate the reasons why it is not only acceptable but also entirely necessary for the analyst to engage personally with the patient. He also creates a personally impactful psychoanalytic reading experience for his readers. The engagement of reader and author also captures one of the major themes in Bromberg’s contribution: that healthy psychological functioning involves the freedom to access different self states, to live in the “polyphony” of the self rather than in fragmented dissociated and sequestered self states, and, through that polyphony, to find self-coherence and immediacy in living. This volume draws on contemporary developments in psychoanalysis, attachment theory, neuropsychology, child development, and Bromberg’s abiding faith in literature, poetry, and the imagination. It presents a thorough and fully formed statement of Bromberg’s unique body of work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)