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 Clinical interaction and the analysis of meaning: A new psychoanalytic theory.

Reviews the book, Clinical interaction and the analysis of meaning: A new psychoanalytic theory by T. Dorpat and M. Miller (see record 1992-98407-000). This text views psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy from the perspective of the newly proposed concept of "Meaning Analysis." The authors purport to advance psychoanalytic theory and technique by taking a fresh perspective on two important aspects of analytic encounter: the interaction between the analyst and analysand (therapist and patient) and how interactions in this relationship affect transference and countertransference. This book also examines the analysis of meaning and how treatment can assist in the understanding and reconstruction of client beliefs. The authors present a reanalysis of Freud's theory and the goal of the book is to elucidate the "flaws" in his work. The reviewer believes that many readers will be intrigued by the criticisms of Freud and the blending of more recent research into analytic models. This book is recommended for both analytically oriented therapists and interested readers who want to learn more about analytic treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychoanalytic treatment: An intersubjective approach.

Reviews the book, Psychoanalytic treatment: An intersubjective approach by Robert D. Stolorow, Bernard Brandchaft, and George E. Atwood (see record 1987-98240-000). This is an extremely interesting and well-argued book that, with its carefully chosen clinical cases, appears to demonstrate the value of the intersubjective approach and the integrative power of Kohut's ideas. However, in doing so it raises some fundamental issues in the study and understanding of psychoanalysis both as a theory and as a therapy, and it is these that the reviewer wants to examine in this review. These issues concern the relation of hermeneutics, science, and the scientific method to the practice, theory, and understanding of psychoanalysis. The reviewer argues that Stolorow and colleagues fail to present a hermeneutic case because psychoanalytic therapy goes beyond such confines, and they certainly make no scientific case for their claims. Their books falls uneasily between science and hermeneutics. Nevertheless, if we apply hermeneutic criteria to their case studies as they would wish, the reviewer thinks it is fair to say that they tell a convincing story and one that suggests that the intersubjective approach is, indeed, a useful one meriting considerable further study. What is needed is something that is truly difficult, to develop a scientific approach to a subjective world. If this could be done, then real progress could be made in the development of psychoanalytic ideas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The ability to mourn: Disillusionment and the social origins of psychoanalysis.

Reviews the book, The ability to mourn: Disillusionment and the social origins of psychoanalysis by Peter Homans (see record 1989-98118-000). Within the broadly defined goal of investigating the social origins of psychoanalysis, this book undertakes a series of strikingly original and thought-provoking explorations into the history of the psychoanalytic movement, its place in the traditions of Western culture, and its possible role in defining a more satisfactory relationship to modernity. In addition to providing a sociological study of one of the most influential movements of our time, the book also attempts to put forward a new psychoanalytic theory of culture capable of overcoming the limitations of Freud's cultural theories. The book is divided into three parts, the first two of which are devoted primarily to the origins and early development of psychoanalysis while the third takes up the contemporary cultural significance of psychoanalysis and the author's own theory of culture. The underlying thesis of the first two parts of the book is that psychoanalysis arose from a centuries-long process of mourning dating as far back as the 14th century. In his search for a theory of culture appropriate to the problems of modernity, as in his explorations of the history of the psychoanalytic movement and the origins of psychoanalysis, Homans provides an unusually creative and original perspective on issues of fundamental importance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 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 Attachment in psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Attachment in psychotherapy by David J. Wallin (see record 2007-05421-000). This intellectual and clinical tour-de-force is what we have been waiting for: a book that is on the one hand a coherent, creative, thoughtful, and remarkably integrated view of contemporary psychoanalysis, with attachment, and attachment processes, at its core, and on the other a reflection on our daily, complex, work with patients. The book has three broad aims: first, to ground the reader in attachment theory and research, second, to broaden the reach of attachment theory by building bridges to other aspects of contemporary psychoanalytic theory and science, and third to apply this broader, deeply psychoanalytic, clinical attachment theory to understanding the dynamics of an individual patient and the dynamics of clinical work. This book should be essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary psychoanalysis. Few writers have the ability to write so directly and clearly about complex science and theory; his scholarship and reach are extraordinary. This book is also a book for therapists at all levels of experience. Throughout every section of the book, Wallin writes about his work with patients, about the therapeutic process, about the therapeutic situation, and about the therapeutic relationship, in all its complexity. In the end, he creates a truly contemporary vision of human development, affect regulation, and relational processes, grounded in the body and in the brain, and in the fundamental relationships that make us who we are, as therapists, as patients, and as human beings. (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 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)     

Intersubjectivity and neuroscience: Understanding enactments and their therapeutic significance within emerging paradigms.

Evolving views of enactments as interpersonal manifestations of dissociated relational styles are increasingly finding support in attachment studies and neuro scientific research. Understanding enactments as an aspect of the intersubjective process and as the ultimate communicators of the patient's neurally encoded early experiences, this paper examines what enactments convey, and explores their interpersonal and neural underpinnings. Unconsciously triggered and communicated within the intersubjective interaction, enactments reveal the participants' implicit, neurally encoded relational and emotional patterns that inevitably come alive within the analytic dyad. It is suggested that the analyst's eventual self-awareness of her own participation, followed by self-disclosure of her experience, promote a conscious, verbally articulated encounter with the patient's unconscious relational styles, creating opportunities for emotional and neural integration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 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)     

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 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 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)     

Reviews of Psychoanalyses/feminisms; That obscure subject of desire: Freud's female homosexual revisited; and Who's that girl? Who's that boy? Clinical practice meets postmodern gender theory.

Reviews the books, Psychoanalyses/feminisms by Peter L. Rudnytsky and Andrew M. Gordon (see record 1999-04403-000); That obscure subject of desire: Freud's female homosexual revisited by Ronnie C. Lesser and Erica Schoenberg (see record 1999-04164-000); and Who's that girl? Who's that boy? Clinical practice meets postmodern gender theory by Lynne Layton (1999). The three books reviewed herein are examples of these crosscurrents. The first, Psychoanalyses/Feminisms, comes out of literary studies, where feminism and psychoanalysis have found particularly fertile ground. Almost all the writers here are professors of English, and although without clinical experience or case material, their discussions of Freudian theory are knowledgeable and thought-provoking. Freud looked to literature for his insights, and he was himself a powerful story teller. All of these modern day theorists put his feet to the fire that he did not challenge sufficiently in his stories, the cultural biases and assumptions of the society in which he was immersed. The second book, That Obscure Subject of Desire: Freud's Female Homosexual Revisited, is a collection edited by Ronnie Lesser and Erica Schoenberg. Many of the contributors are gay and lesbian psychoanalysts. Established psychoanalysis has had difficulty in openly accepting homosexual psychoanalysts and in addressing fully their concerns about current psychoanalytic theory as it pertains to the treatment of persons with a homosexual orientation. The rage some of these writers feel toward established practice or toward Freud is evident; and hopefully, just as feminist rage helped to alter our psychoanalytic understanding of women, this will help to alter our understanding of homosexual development in our culture. The last book reviewed, Who's that girl? Who's that boy? Clinical practice meets postmodern gender theory, is by Lynne Layton and has aspects that are inspiring for their insights into a "postmodern" (to my mind, an unfortunate term) way of thinking about gender issues. The book—actually a collection of articles by Layton—deals both with analysis of aspects of modern culture as well as clinical material. What Layton wants most to show are the ways in which psychoanalysis has enshrined as "normal" in the very essence of its theories, from the Oedipus complex through concepts of masculinity and femininity to acceptable sexual practices, the tremendous biases of our culture. She wants to provide a bridge between deconstruction thinkers and psychoanalytic thinkers. These three books are compelling examples of the changes that are taking place so rapidly in contemporary psychoanalytic attempts to understand gender and sexuality within the matrix of our culture, and they are a testament to how psychoanalysis is vibrant, challenging, and very much alive today. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Critique of Relational Psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis today is largely a psychology of consciousness: Post- and neo-Freudians form a marginalized community within North America in comparison to contemporary relational and intersubjective theorists, who emphasize the phenomenology of lived conscious experience, dyadic attachments, affective attunement, social construction, and mutual recognition over the role of insight and interpretation. Despite the rich historical terrain of theoretical variation and advance, many contemporary approaches have displaced the primacy of the unconscious. Notwithstanding the theoretical hairsplitting that historically occurs across the psychoanalytic domain, one is beginning to see with increasing force and clarity what S. Mitchell and L. Aron (1999) referred to as the emergence of a new tradition, namely, relational psychoanalysis. Having its edifice in early object relations theory, the British middle school and American interpersonal traditions, and self psychology, relationality is billed as "a distinctly new tradition" (Mitchell & Aron, 1999, p. x). What is being labeled as the American middle group of psychoanalysis (C. Spezzano, 1997), relational and intersubjective theory have taken center stage. It may be argued, however, that contemporary relational and intersubjective perspectives have failed to be properly critiqued from within their own school of discourse. The scope of this article is largely preoccupied with tracing (a) the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary relational theory, (b) its theoretical relation to traditional psychoanalytic thought, (c) clinical implications for therapeutic practice, and (d) its intersection with points of consilience that emerge from these traditions. (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 Conscious and unconscious: Freud's dynamic distinction reconsidered.

Reviews the book, Conscious and unconscious: Freud's dynamic distinction reconsidered by Patricia S. Herzog (see record 1991-97475-000). Patricia Herzog's book is a critical examination of the way in which Freud presented the conscious/unconscious distinction. Herzog is a philosopher, and she provides the careful, analysis of Freudian concepts that good philosophers can, but which is unfortunately often missing from psychoanalysis. Her concerns are not empirical or therapeutic bur conceptual: the consistencies, inconsistencies, and interrelations in the family of Freud's theoretical concepts which has conscious and unconscious as key members. Herzog has provided a scholarly, close-to-the-text treatment of Freud's conscious/unconscious distinction, most surely a central aspect of the theory of psychopathology. But her presentation makes it hard work to grasp and integrate the points, and the reader is left to struggle alone to discover the links between her critique of Freud and themes in modern psychoanalytic or other psychological theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud. Volume I. The Formative Years and the Great Discoveries, 1856-1900.

Reviews the book, The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud. Volume I. The Formative Years and the Great Discoveries, 1856-1900 by Ernest Jones (see record 1954-03633-000). According to the reviewer, the first volume of the trilogy Dr. Jones promises is a book of unparalleled interest and importance for psychologists of all schools and theoretical persuasions. It presents an absorbing story which will never be more fully nor better told. The historical importance of Freud and his ideas hardly needs to be labored, and it is perhaps enough to say that this book is, in the reviewer's opinion, the best available introduction to an understanding of the man and of psychoanalysis as he developed it. For it presents the work as well as the life of Freud, and carefully traces the development of psychoanalytic ideas up to their first great climax in The Interpretation of Dreams. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)