Mind and Brain in the 1990s
(1993)
Freud and Jung
(1993)
Beyond the inevitability of countertransference feelings is the question of countertransference enactments. From a two-person, participant-observer or observing-participant perspective, enactments are inevitable. The analyst becomes influenced by the patient (and influences the patient as well) and enmeshed in the patient's internalized interpersonal configurations. Analysis works not by avoiding such action but by analyzing from within the interactional system. Analysts who are different from one another become engaged in different ways, since the person of the analyst is a significant variable. This article, using case examples, explores two analyst-related variables, age and family configuration, to expand the examination of countertransference enactments and some effects on the analytic process.
Reply to the Commentaries
(1993)
Erich Fromm revisited.
(1993)
Mastery and guilt
(1993)
Boa and flowers
(1993)
Action and insight form an essential dialectic within the psychoanalytic process. Yet many recent psychoanalytic formulations, while emphasizing integration, have continued to view psychoanalytic and action-oriented techniques dichotomously. It is reasoned that certain behavioral-cognitive techniques that promote adaptive behavior can become an active part of an in-depth analytic experience, providing material for an exploration that results in new ways not only of relating but also of experiencing the self and others. Such an approach, while at times helpful to certain patients, can be counterproductive for others. An integrative approach is compatible with many recent psychoanalytic frameworks emphasizing a two-person psychology, but not with a one-person vision of the psychoanalytic situation in the two-person view, it is reasoned that an integrative approach is capable of maintaining the integrity of the analytic process. The outlined technique reflects a relational psychoanalytic orientation emphasizing internalized object relations, with the use of action-oriented techniques organized by the superordinate goal of modifying psychic structure, conceptualized principally in terms of self- and object-representations. Reasoning that this approach is congruent with certain theoretical contributions from Gill, Mitchell, Sandier, and especially Wachtel, among others, I state underlying assumptions of the approach, preliminary technical guidelines, and illustrative case material.
How People Get Better
(1993)
This paper considers, from a psychoanalytic point of view, work with urban poor patients. A previous attempt, from an ego psychological perspective, to adapt psychoanalytic theory and technique for work with such patients is reviewed. An attempt is then made to elaborate an object relations perspective, based largely on the work of Fairbairn. The two approaches are compared and contrasted, especially with respect to common problems that arise in work with this group of people, such as missed appointments, crises, and requests for >concrete< help. Finally, there is a review of how the structure and policies of the public clinics in which most poor patients are seen impact on analytically oriented work.