Discussion: On Some Contributions of the Interpersonal Tradition to Contemporary Psychoanalytic Praxis

Writers identified with the interpersonal psychoanalytic tradition are primarily responsible for initiating the relational turn in psychoanalysis: the evolution from an objectivist one-person model of analytic praxis to that of an intersubjective, two-person paradigm. The two papers discussed here focus on two qualities in the analyst—curiosity and spontaneity—and how these elements of the analyst's subjectivity have helped lead to a potential enrichment of patients’ responsivity to analytic engagement.     

Observations on the Centrality of Security in Psychoanalytic Supervision: A View from the Interpersonal Tradition and Attachment Perspective

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis - Using theoretical concepts from the Interpersonal tradition in psychoanalysis and supported by findings from the attachment literature, the utility of...     

Psychoanalytic Identity: Charles Rycroft and the British Freudian Tradition

This paper explores Rycroft's views on narcissistic barriers to the formation of analytic identity, together with the analyst's relation to (or ablation of) his forbears. It sketches Rycroft's relation to his training analysts, Ella Sharpe and Sylvia Payne and the British Freudian tradition, delineating a line of descent running from Hanns Sachs, through Sharpe and Payne to Rycroft. Rycroft defined himself in creative dialogue with Freud and his own contemporaries within the British Freudian tradition.     

Analyzing Multiplicity: A Postmodern Perspective on Some Current Psychoanalytic Theories of Subjectivity

Tensions between modernism and postmodernism in psychoanalytic theory and practice are evident in the allegedly “postmodern” view of subjectivity as not unified but plural. Suggesting that a thoroughgoing postmodern clinical practice does not exist at present, I distinguish between U. S. and European models of the postmodern multiple subject and between modern and postmodern varieties of pluralism in the current psychoanalytic theorization of subjectivity in this country, proposing that all such pluralist theories are in fact mixed models. I argue that these theories do not reflect objective, essential traits of selfhood but are complexly shaped by the cultural presuppositions and intrapsychic needs of the analyst; hence attempts to theorize subjectivity with reference to science (including developmental schemas) are problematic. Because a thoroughgoing postmodern pluralism cannot accommodate such concepts as agency and authenticity or a coherent narrative of the treatment process, clinical psychoanalysis, at least at present, inevitably includes major elements of the modernist approach, in which subjectivity is seen as unified. At this time of paradigm shift between modernism and postmodernism, therefore, it is important that pluralists decenter from their theories and respect the continuing influence of modernism on psychoanalytic theory and practice.     

Thorndike's Puzzle Boxes And The Origins Of The Experimental Analysis Of Behavior

The year of Thorndike's dissertation on animal intelligence, 1898, may mark the beginning of the field that eventually became known as the experimental analysis of behavior. The dissertation began a major shift in thinking about animal and human learning, provided important methodological innovations, and carried the seeds of later research and theory, particularly by B. F. Skinner. Although Thorndike was an associationist in 1898, the dissertation began the systematic search for fundamental behavioral processes, and laid the foundation for an empirical science of behavior.     

The Radex Structure Of The Leary Interpersonal Behavior Circle

Two experiments were run in which the structure of the Interpersonal Check List (ICL) was studied. Both studies demonstrated that the ICL comprised a circular ordering of traits at several levels of intensity. This structure, defined by Guttman as a radex, incorporates the social desirability of trait ratings in a simple model.     

Dimensions Of Interpersonal Relationships And Safety In The Steel Industry

This paper extends theories explaining the influence of social determinants on workplace safety. Specifically, we applied social capital theorys emphasis of trust, shared norms, and faithfulness to obligations to the outcomes of at-risk behavior and perceptions of a safe work environment. Data provided by 395 employees of a major steel company supported the hypothesis that shared employee norms predicted both perceptions of work environment safety and at-risk behavior, trust in supervisor predicted perceptions of a safe work environment, and belief in managements safety values predicted at-risk behaviors.This study received funding from Marsh, Inc. in support of their continuing interest in creating safer more productive work environments. We would like to thank William Grimes, Dean Larson and Dennis Morajda for their support and contribution to this research.     

On Knowing and Using Myself: Reflections on an Analyst's Subjectivity,Intersubjectivity, and Psychoanalytic Change

In this article I describe my journey to become a psychoanalyst, which includes discovering my resonance with the ideas and clinical approaches of a contemporary self psychological relational approach. I also reflect on a clinical vignette that I see playing a crucial role in my development as a psychoanalyst and consider analytic change processes in both implicit and explicit realms.     

Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Intense Involvement in Sports,edited by Irwin Hirsch,Phillip Blumberg,and Robert I. Watson,Jr., Routledge,Abingdon and New York, 2021, 193 pp.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

The Medieval Commentary Tradition:

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