The tie that binds: Affect regulation, attachment, and psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalytic theory has both expanded and altered its constructs in response to clinical work. The attachment system is a construct in need of integration, and it requires its own motivational status in psychoanalytic theory. The author regards affect regulation (mutual and self-regulation) as a key aspect of the attachment system and as an addendum to Bowlby's ideas, one that is consistent with contemporary findings in infant research. A published case and 2 clinical cases are used to demonstrate the usefulness of the concepts of mutual and self-regulation in clinical work. Illustrated as well are the benefits of an integration of affect regulation and traditional motives for optimizing clinical work. The inclusion of these motivational constructs provides for a more comprehensive psychoanalytic theory that offers enriched explanations of complex psychic and behavioral phenomena. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary on "Contemporary structural psychoanalysis and relational psychoanalysis."

Comments on the Special Section "Contemporary structural psychoanalysis and relational psychoanalysis" in Psychoanalytic Psychology, Vol 12 [1]. The author states there are many misreadings of the relational theories. He emphasizes the reasons the term relational was chosen for the theory, the conflict among different relational configurations, and the issues separating relational and structural theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reenfranchising psychoanalysis.

This article explores the meaning of disenfranchisement as it relates to the estrangement of psychoanalysis from gays and lesbians, who were not included in the original conference on the disenfranchised. This oversight is examined as part of the lag between a more inclusive stance toward gays and lesbians by psychoanalytic professional organizations and adoption of a similar inclusiveness by doctoral programs. The author examines whether these programs are honestly acknowledging their gay and lesbian students; alternative supervisory clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate their difficulties. The implications of continued avoidance of open conversation around issues of sexuality in training programs are explored in terms of the possible consequences that arise from unexamined countertransference, for both patients and therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nomothetic psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalytic theory's roots (in the clinic rather than the laboratory), and aims (depth understanding of the individual) have led to the development of a theoretical perspective that relies primarily on idiographic data and case material to derive and test psychoanalytic hypotheses. In this article, I describe nomothetic psychoanalysis--a framework for conceptualizing and evaluating psychoanalytic ideas that complements and enriches the traditional idiographic approach. Guidelines for conducting nomothetic studies of psychodynamic constructs are provided, and five principles are offered for implementing nomothetic psychoanalysis to maximize its heuristic value and clinical impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classical and relational psychoanalysis.

Comments on the articles by A. Wilson, J. F. Murray, A. Sugarman (see PA, Vol 82:33124, 33115, and 33122, respectively) and others regarding the controversy between classical and relational theories in psychoanalysis. Gill focuses on the opposition between classical and relational theory and suggests that the central issue in the controversy is the relation between the innate and the experiential. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On history and psychoanalysis.

Freud claimed that psychoanalysis represented a major assault on human narcissism. This view is only partially correct for it is largely ahistorical. Freud's view must now be balanced against the historians' perspective on psychoanalysis, which in its turn represents a potential narcissistic blow to psychoanalysis, so long as psychoanalysts isolate themselves from fuller recognition of the sociocultural matrix of Freud's work. This article, by a psychoanalyst, presents some of the newer perspectives of historians on the development of Freud's work against the background of late 19th century Austrian and German political, cultural, and social history. Through understanding this past, we are better able to understand the present dilemmas of psychoanalysis, in particular the relevance of social forces in the development of emotional disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on psychoanalysis in Canada.

Some historical and contemporary features of the psychoanalytic movement in Canada are brought to the attention of psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On psychoanalysis and academic psychology.

Comments on the article by G. A. Hornstein (see record 1992-24439-001), which argues that through its long-standing clash with psychoanalysis, academic psychology has benefited and commonalities have emerged. F. J. Wertz maintains that however flexible and broad-based academic psychology may have become because of psychoanalysis, their respective ground rules remain mutually opposed, and it would be wrong to conclude that a deep resolution of differences has been achieved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Studies on the efficacy of child psychoanalysis.

This article summarizes 3 studies that evaluated the psychoanalytic psychotherapeutic treatment of diabetic children and adolescents with grossly abnormal blood glucose profiles necessitating repeated admissions to hospital. Study 1 used time series analysis to demonstrate that improvements in control were predicted by unconscious themes emerging in the analytic material. Study 2 compared the effect of psychotherapeutic treatment with that of minimal psychological intervention in 2 well-matched groups (n?=?11). Patients in the treatment group were offered psychoanalytic psychotherapy 3–4 times per week on the hospital ward. The intervention was highly effective in improving the diabetic control of the children, and this improvement was maintained at 1-yr follow-up. Study 3 used single-case experimental design to demonstrate the marked effect of psychotherapeutic help on growth in diabetic children with short stature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The trend toward convergence in psychoanalysis: Comment on the special section on structural and relational psychoanalysis and on the commentary.

Replies to comments by J. Benjamin, S. A. Mitchell, and C. J. Spezzano (see records 83-14390, 83-14402, and 83-14404, respectively) on the Special Section of Psychoanalytic Psychology, Vol 12(1), "Contemporary structural psychoanalysis and relational psychoanalysis." The author argues that the key issue is the failure to recognize not only the variations within both the relational and Freudian frameworks but the extent to which a convergence of ideas has been taking place between these 2 orientations and among all varieties of psychoanalysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chaos, complexity, and psychoanalysis.

In this article, the principles embodied by chaos and complexity theories are applied to the psychoanalytic enterprise. The patient and the analyst are conceptualized as complex adaptive systems of mental schemas whose interaction creates the complex adaptive system of the analytic dyad. Psychoanalysis is described as a transformational process that takes place within the creation and evolution of the complex adaptive system of the analytic dyad. Transference, countertransference, psychopathology, and the processes of mutative change are explicated in terms of how complex adaptive systems self-organize, develop, and evolve. What emerges from this analysis is a holistic psychoanalytic theory that brings under 1 set of principles the concepts and techniques that have hitherto been described by a number of conflicting theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Jung, Jungians, and psychoanalysis.

The break between Freud and Jung--and the subsequent division between their followers--has had profound and continuing consequences for both parties. The Jungians have continued an ambivalent relationship to psychoanalysis, with the effects of internal conflicts and institutional schisms. Mainstream psychoanalysis, for its part, has used Jung, the primary and still most prominent "deviant," to inhibit developments in areas associated with his work. This article explores how the pressure to maintain solidarity and conformity in psychoanalysis has curtailed, in particular, thinking in 3 areas: symbolism, lifelong development, and paranormal experience. It concludes with observations about the opportunities and dangers associated with the move toward pluralism being considered in both camps. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New directions in psychoanalysis.

A number of significant developments augur well for the future of psychoanalysis, both as a method of therapy and as a branch of psychological science. The contributions of Heinz Kohut, together with the explanations for his clinical findings as made possible by developmental psychology, cybernetics, communication science, and neurophysiology are reviewed in the context of their significance for Freud's pioneering discoveries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Somatic experience in psychoanalysis.

Bodily experience in psychoanalysis as it is encountered developmentally and during treatment is the focal point of this article. The evolution of psychoanalytic thinking on the way that somatic experience contributes to the development of a distinctive psychic self and to the establishment of an intersubjective dialogue between caregiver and infant is traced. Additionally, the relevance of attending to the somatic experience of both analysand and analyst during the course of treatment is underscored, particularly with patients whose primary mode of communicating about their internal experience is through various forms of bodily expression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The identity of psychoanalysis and psychoanalysts.

Psychoanalysis has been in a constant uninterrupted debate about its identity as a discipline and as a social institution. This article considers the place of science in psychoanalysis, on the one hand, and the hermeneutic nature of our discipline, on the other. The aim is to articulate a typology of psychoanalytic knowledge that characterizes psychoanalysis as a form of therapy, an intellectual movement, and a theoretical system. This typology considers psychoanalysis as a thought collective that influences its members by exchanging and maintaining ideas. To be a well-rounded psychoanalytic thinker or practitioner one must be able to move easily among three realms of knowledge--the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. Each realm has its own criteria of truth and the challenge is to know when to employ which criteria. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theoretical and philosophical issues in psychoanalysis.

Discusses the question of whether philosophical issues have a significant place in contemporary psychoanalytic thought. Topics covered include how the psychoanalytic theoretic enterprise is best viewed, how the person is viewed as an actor in his own life story, and the nature-nurture controversy. The author believes that current psychoanalytic thought reflects the philosophical concerns of mankind through the ages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perspectives on selfhood.

Examines selfhood as the criterial features of the human condition from 3 perspectives: evolutionary or phylogenetic, cross-cultural and transhistorical, and developmental or ontogenetic. It is argued that to deal with the phenomena of selfhood, psychology has to be a historical and cultural science, as well as a biological one. The reflexiveness of selfhood makes theories about it important in partly constituting the selves that we are—an insight of the currently popular "attributional" approach. Yet the cognitive emphasis of the attributional approach requires balance from Jung's vision of dynamic archetypes. Indeed, if psychology is to begin to grasp the phenomena of selfhood, it needs to work in both the causal and the interpretative traditions, taken as complementary. (73 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proverbs and psychoanalysis

Proverbs have much to teach the psychoanalyst. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the clinical usefulness of viewing certain proverbs as analogous to typical dreams, to discuss some implications of the affinities between proverbs, riddles, and typical dreams in the context of applied psychoanalysis, and to view the proverb as stemming from the same common matrix as dreams, myths, symptoms, and folklore.