Contemporary American psychoanalysis: A profession? Increasing the role of research in psychoanalysis.

The simmering crisis confronting American psychoanalysis today is, in part, a function of fundamental theoretical and clinical disagreements within psychoanalysis itself. Psychoanalytic training, which conveys the special knowledge of our profession, and its application to techniques of treatment have become fragmented and frayed; boundaries have lost definition and our qualification as a profession is vitiated. Our diminished status is reflected in reduced public support and our smaller share of the patient population. Debate seems unable to resolve these disagreements. Acknowledgment of this reduced status creates the need and the opportunity for an increased role for research in psychoanalysis and the development of an analytic research enterprise capable of exploring for empirical resolutions of basic questions and disputes. Such a concerted effort to define the psychoanalytic enterprise through empirically supported basic tenets is necessary to avoid further dissipation of the markers of our psychoanalytic identity, both as individuals and as a profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the practice of psychotherapy by the nonmedically trained.

Freud in his writing indicated that medical training was not necessary for psychoanalytic qualification. The problem (of the practice of psychotherapy by the nonmedically trained) is still very much with us; and it may be profitable to re-examine the arguments pro and con for allowing nonmedically trained individuals to perform psychotherapy. The positions of persons opposed to nonmedically trained psychotherapy are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Contexts of being: The intersubjective foundations of psychological life.

Reviews the book, Contexts of being: The intersubjective foundations of psychological life by Robert D. Stolorow and George E. Atwood (see record 1992-98615-000). In this book, the authors present a well-organized and systematic presentation of their intersubjective approach to psychotherapy. This book represents the culmination of at least the past thirteen years of Stolorow and Atwood's research program. They make good use of the limited space by addressing some of the most pivotal concepts in the field of psychotherapy. This work is likely to become a recognized contribution within the history of psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Good Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in Film: Three Unorthodox Examples.

Although presentations of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in film are often distorted, examples of good psychotherapeutic principles can be found in film in unorthodox settings. In The Sixth Sense and The Silence of the Lambs, the therapist must overcome his own resistance to listening to his patient in order to be effective. A psychologist must come to terms with his own death in order to understand and help his patient, and a cannibalistic psychiatrist must control his oral voyeurism to allow his "patient" to tell her story. Rashomon takes place in medieval Japan, but it fits a model of a 1-session psychotherapy of a guilt-ridden, acutely depressed man who benefits from both insight and reparative action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Classic in Psychotherapy Integration Revisited: The Dynamics of Psychotherapy in the Light of Learning Theory.

Discusses the history of psychoanalytic treatment and the dynamics of psychotherapy. The essential psychodynamic principles on which psychoanalytic treatments rest have solid observational foundations: 1) during treatment unconscious (repressed) material becomes conscious; 2) the mobilization of unconscious material is achieved mainly by interpretation of material emerging during free association and by the patient's emotional interpersonal experiences in the therapeutic situation (transference); 3) the patient shows resistance against recognizing unconscious content; and 4) it is only natural that the neurotic patient will sooner or later direct his typical neurotic attitude toward his therapist. Current studies give encouragement and hope that we shall eventually be able to understand more adequately this intricate interpersonal process and to account for therapeutic successes and failures. In the field of psychotherapy the long overdue observation of the therapeutic process by nonparticipant observers is turning out to be the required methodological tool. At present, we are witnessing the beginnings of a most promising integration of psychoanalytic theory and practice of the psychotherapies. (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 The psychotherapy of the elderly self.

Reviews the book, The psychotherapy of the elderly self by Hyman L. Muslin (see record 1992-98107-000). The purpose of this book is to describe the extension of psychoanalytic therapy in the Kohut mode to the elderly. Specifically the author describes the changes the elderly must cope with, the impact these changes have on the elderly self, and the kind of psychotherapy that will best help them cope with these changes. This book has a rather narrow focus, and is likely to be of interest mostly to those engaged in the Kohutian version of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It does not present much material that is likely to be of help to those engaged in the more general practice of psychology with aged individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relevance of a psychoanalytic perspective in exploring religious and spiritual identity in psychotherapy.

The attempt to make meaning of the soul is inherent to psychoanalytic inquiry, despite its historical diminution of religion and spirituality. Feminist ideology and multicultural psychology have played a critical role in challenging traditional psychoanalytic conceptions of the practice of religion and spirituality as pathological and/or regressive. Contemporary psychoanalysis that emphasizes two-person psychology, and the intersubjective aspects of the analytic space has also allowed for more open inquiry into the spiritual lives of clients and therapists. Both psychoanalysis and spirituality share the goal of a search for particular aspects of one's identity. This search for one's real or true self becomes particularly poignant for both the therapist and the client, as it is highly reliant on the therapist's and the client's specific religious and spiritual contexts. This paper examines the development of identity as influenced by religious and spiritual beliefs. The author discusses a clinical case to illustrate the complex interaction between religious traditions and individual experiences of religion and spirituality, and related implications of a contemporary psychoanalytic approach to psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychoanalysis conducted at reduced frequencies.

This paper explores the clinical indications for an optimal psychoanalysis conducted at reduced frequencies. Among other purposes psychoanalysis is an engagement that serves to demystify experience. The structure of multiple session frequency applied a priori and in the absence of other considerations may contribute to mystification of the analytic process itself. Particularly for those patients presenting with limited ego-capacity for reflection, impulsive or compulsive behaviors, inhibition of thinking processes, blunting of emotions, and rudimentary capacity for therapeutic cooperation, analyses of multiple frequencies can contribute to false compliance or resistance. Clinically the frequency of sessions can be determined on an empirical basis. An analysand's ability to self-reflect occurs in the same measure as one's tolerance for emotional contact with the analyst and the unconscious. An optimal psychoanalysis understood as a maturational process is conducted initially for some clinical varieties of transference at reduced frequency, which is then expanded over time as the person's capacity for thoughtful self-reflection and interpersonal contact with the analyst develops. In this way actual unconscious processes are privileged over taken-for-granted therapeutics and addressed as an empirical reality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A case study in a behavioral analysis of psychotherapy.

A content analysis guided by the points of view of psychoanalytic theory and learning theory was made of the verbalizations from the case history of a 24-year-old male. The content categories utilized were concerned with motivation and defense. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reviving Freud's vision of a psychoanalytic science: Implications for clinical training and education.

Traditional assumptions about the analytic encounter have contributed to the detachment of psychoanalytic psychotherapy from the empirical movement that has dominated mainstream academic clinical psychology. However, recent research findings on the process and mechanisms of change within psychoanalytic forms of treatment now provide much needed empirical support for some of the basic tenets of psychoanalytic theory and practice, challenge long-standing notions regarding the link between therapeutic technique and clinical improvement, and suggest that factors once believed to be unique to psychoanalytic psychotherapy might be playing a crucial role in the promotion of change in other therapeutic modalities. The implications of these process research findings for the present state and future of clinical training and education are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Resistance: Psychodynamic and Behavioral Approaches.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 7(1) of Psychoanalytic Psychology (see record 2007-10573-001). In this review, the phrase "in his inimical style" (p.238) should read "in his inimitable style.] This three-part edited collection of chapters considers the problem of resistance in psychotherapy. The term is defined and considered from several radically difference psychological perspectives. The psychoanalytic approach in Part I consists of four chapters written by authorities in the field. The four chapters of Part II concern both cognitive and pure behavioral approaches. Part III contains eight brief chapters in which the authors were invited to comment on one author's contributions. In the main the authors remain focused and concise, but it is very obvious that resistance has a remarkably broad variety of definitions, and that some of these definitions are so different that the authors do not appear to be speaking of similar phenomena. What is also clear from this complicated edited collection is that the clinician needs to be much more flexible in his theoretical positions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How you play the game: On game as play and play as game in the psychoanalytic process.

This article proposes that all communications of patients in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis are distributed along two coexisting dimensions which are designated "gaming" and "playing." It is suggested that these reflect two different aspects of the underlying therapeutic process, both of which are always present but to varying degrees at different times. "Playing" refers to the symbolic play with thoughts and fantasies, occurring during moments of free association and fantasy play with toys. At these times, the transference appears relatively positive and sublimated, and the therapeutic work consists predominantly of recall and reconstruction of anamnestic material often related to neurotic issues. "Gaming" characterizes periods of repetition of repressed conflicts within the transference neurosis, with highly intensified responses to the therapist with whom and around whom fantasies and conflicts, often of a characterological nature, are reexperienced. These are frequently expressed through action including structured games with children, acting in, and acting out. Clinical illustrations from the treatment of an adult and a child are discussed in relation to these processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Review of Resistance: Psychodynamic and behavioral approaches": Correction.

Reports an error in "Review of Resistance: Psychodynamic and Behavioral Approaches" by Stuart W. Twemlow (Psychoanalytic Psychology, 1989[Spr], Vol 6[2], 237-240). In this review, the phrase "in his inimical style" (p. 238) should read "in his inimitable style." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2003-05429-011.) This three-part edited collection of chapters considers the problem of resistance in psychotherapy. The term is defined and considered from several radically difference psychological perspectives. The psychoanalytic approach in Part I consists of four chapters written by authorities in the field. The four chapters of Part II concern both cognitive and pure behavioral approaches. Part III contains eight brief chapters in which the authors were invited to comment on one author's contributions. In the main the authors remain focused and concise, but it is very obvious that resistance has a remarkably broad variety of definitions, and that some of these definitions are so different that the authors do not appear to be speaking of similar phenomena. What is also clear from this complicated edited collection is that the clinician needs to be much more flexible in his theoretical positions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Beyond the reflection: The role of the mirror paradigm in clinical practice.

Reviews the book, Beyond the reflection: The role of the mirror paradigm in clinical practice by Paulina Kernberg, Bernadette Buhl-Nielsen, and Lina Normandin (see record 2007-00911-000). This modestly presented volume overflows with insight and new ways of looking at the mirroring experience for children and adolescents. Kernberg and her collaborators present the rich history of the image, metaphor, and pervasive role of the mirror in human experience; they carefully describe the "subjective experience of wonder, admiration, and an objective dimension of truth" in the mirror paradigm (2006, p. xv). For the psychotherapist, Kernberg's work provides a rich resource; the review of past and current research and theorizing about the mirroring function of mothers and primary caregivers is thorough and up-to-date with the most recent advances in neuroscience, attachment theory, and infant research. From Freud to Lacan, from Winnicott to Stern, and from Schore to Gergely, Kernberg presents a sweeping exposition of the various images of the mirror. This volume is worthwhile if only for its presentation of this body of recent research. But there is so much more to be found here. While this is not the first time that Kernberg has presented us with her work with mirror observation and interviews (Kernberg, 1984, 1987), this volume integrates the research about early mother- child experience, and the mirroring paradigm in the psychoanalytic theories about child development, with the phenomenology of child and adolescent psychotherapy. The clinician will find a useful application of the theory to clinical practice and diagnosis that is hard to find in the literature. Beebe and Lachmann (2002) have accomplished this integration between infant research and adult treatment, but Kernberg's application of her research and the demonstrated correlation between the findings of mirror experience, attachment histories, and clinical experience is a rare and welcome addition to the literature. There are also valuable links made between the findings around mirror experience and children's trauma histories. This reader came away feeling that a tremendous debt is owed to the authors for helping to ground clinical theory and practice in substantial current research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Thematic Apperception Test and the Children's Apperception Test in clinical use.

Reviews the book, The Thematic Apperception Test and the Children's Apperception Test in Clinical Use by Leopold Bellak (see record 1955-04032-000). More than anything else this book gives evidence of the extensivity and maturity of the author's clinical experience. Both in the expository sections of the volume, in which the author elucidates his thinking about such items as theoretical foundations for projective testing and the use of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in psychotherapy, as well as in the case illustration sections in which sample TAT and Children's Apperception Test (CAT) stories are analyzed and interpreted, there is a richness in clinical wisdom and an erudition in psychoanalytic personality theory. However, there are shortcomings of the book as a manual for TAT and CAT interpretation, unless one wishes to accept the author's interpretive procedure "lock, stock, and barrel." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Family therapy concepts and methods.

Reviews the book, Family therapy concepts and methods by Michael P. Nichols (1984). The wealth of information presented in this book about the field of psychotherapy is one of its major strengths. Eight separate schools of therapy are described, including their historic roots. Substantial reading lists are included with each chapter. The presentations include a developmental perspective and normal functioning by which the contrast of disordered behavior may be highlighted. Major figures, main concepts, and methods are presented in a well-written, easy-to-follow format. This text lends itself most usefully to the integration of individual psychodynamic psychotherapy as it contributes to an understanding of systems practice. The presentation of psychoanalytic developmental theory is the best and most useful I have seen. It is well suited to teaching clinicians. The total impression is that the book offers a presentation of psychotherapy as integrated into systemic practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)