The Power of the Spoken Word in Life,Psychiatry, and Psychoanalysis—A Contribution to Interpersonal Psychoanalysis

Starting with a 1890 essay by Freud, the author goes in search of an interpersonal psychology native to Freud's psychoanalytic method and to in psychoanalysis and the interpersonal method in psychiatry. This derives from the basic interpersonal nature of the human situation in the lives of individuals and social groups. Psychiatry, the healing of the soul, and psychotherapy, therapy of the soul, are examined from the perspective of the communication model, based on the essential interpersonal function of language and the spoken word: persons addressing speeches to themselves and to others in relations, between family members, others in society, and the professionals who serve them. The communicational model is also applied in examining psychiatric disorders and psychiatric diagnoses, as well as psychodynamic formulas, which leads to a reformulation of the psychoanalytic therapy as a process. A plea is entered to define psychoanalysis as an interpersonal discipline, in analogy to Sullivan's interpersonal psychiatry.     

The Psychoanalysis of Narcissism and the Inevitability of “Postmodern” Psychoanalysis

In my exploration of postmodern psychoanalysis, I take as my starting point the complex issue of narcissism as developed by Freud. After pointing out some of the theoretical and clinical difficulties and complexities that arise in the analysis of narcissism, I discuss the diversity of the models and interpretations that then become possible; plurality in psychoanalysis is an inevitable consequence of this. The analysis of narcissism thus opens up many questions that lead me to explore some of the answers that both our forebears and present-day psychoanalysts have suggested.     

Can Psychoanalysis Become Empirically Supported?

The article discusses the application of the ideas of evidence-based medicine or empirically supported treatment to the field of psychoanalysis. The author argues that empirical support is gradual rather than categorical, and that the randomized clinical trial (RCT), which is commonly heralded as the appropriate method of support, confounds patient suitability factors with treatment 'as such'. As a consequence of the exclusive reliance on the RCT, empirical validation of psychological treatments has generally favoured cognitive-behavioural treatments, although there is ample evidence - albeit non-RCT - for the beneficial effects of short-term and long-term psychoanalytic treatment. The author argues for a suitability matching approach to empirical validation, where each treatment is tested, as powerfully as feasible, on samples based on selfselection (patient's choice, clinical assignment, suitability judgments etc.). The paper concludes by referring to two recent studies, indicating that there is reason to evaluate alleged empirical support with caution.     

Should Psychoanalysis Become a Science?

I wish to formulate in broad outline an approach to the conceptualization of psychoanalysis that is divested from theory. This view sees the core of psychoanalysis as a humanistic practice, first and foremost guided by the individuality of the dyadic encounter, rather than as a science. I will not argue for any particular view of psychoanalysis. Instead I marshal a series of considerations from the humanities, to frame a conceptualization of psychoanalysis as a clinically based interpretive discipline having a unique mission. Finally, I will present a futuristic hypothetical scenario whose aim is to show why psychoanalysis will remain a viable enterprise basically as conceived by Freud.     

“E” Enactments in Psychoanalysis: Another Medium,Another Message

This paper explores sources of therapeutic action located in inchoate experience, in the often-preconscious resonance that is generated in that dimension of experience which we have come to regard as enacted in the transference/countertransference field. The living and working through of a wide range of problematic and reparative elements distilled in the analytic relationship are described as a crucial source of therapeutic action. A brief historical treatment of the place of enactment in different psychoanalytic traditions is followed by the explication of two different kinds of enactments: ordinary, quotidian enactments that form the daily ebb and flow or ordinary analytic process and (capital E) Enactments. The latter are highly condensed precipitates of unconscious psychic elements in patient and in analyst that mobilize our full, heightened attention and define, and take hold of, analytic activity for periods of time. Clinical vignettes by Theodore Jacobs and Margaret Black are discussed in explicating the latter distinction and considering its implications for technique.     

Can Psychoanalysis be a Science?

This essay proposes to examine a limited number of critical assessments regarding the scientific status of psychoanalysis with reference to intents and purposes, claims and disclaimers, contrasting views of what constitutes a science and the nature of scientific thinking and how these might apply to psychoanalysis epistemologically. It assumes a certain degree of familiarity with criticisms that have been leveled against psychoanalysis from those who insist on absolutist testing for what some call true science, particularly on the part of those who are not practitioners of the art. It wonders about the concern with scientizing by those who actually practice it, or value it in some way or another. It suggests an open minded approach without premature or even warranted closure on the subject of human beings and of ways of getting to know them, let alone understanding them and perhaps being of help to them.     

Psychoanalysis: a dysfunctional family?

The discussion opens with an account of the author's mother's bizarre family in which a strong, charismatic grandmother maintained absolute control over her large family by encouraging a neurotic dependence in them through daily reports of their complaints.
Getting interested in psychoanalysis in an effort to understand the dynamics of this dysfunctional family, the author, a biographer, turned to the study of Melanie Klein, becoming entranced by her ideas. Her research also revealed how Klein had discouraged her followers from developing ideas that diverged in any way from her own. Her portrait of the pioneer analyst provoked intense indignation. A similar pattern of absolute loyalty to his person and theories was to be found in Freud's Secret Committee, formed primarily as a means of getting rid of Jung who had been showing disturbing signs of independence. When Ferenczi and Rank began to pursue independent lines of enquiry in their work, they too were thought to be undermining the foundations of classical psychoanalysis.
Finally, the author concludes that though there have been sorry incidents in psychoanalysis, we should be mature enough to accept both the contributions of the early pioneers and the realizations that new ideas must be permitted to evolve.     

Psychoanalysis and Family Systems Revisited: the Old,Old Story?

This paper explores some commonalities in the current state of psychoanalysis and family therapy in Britain. It argues that there have been social changes within Britain that have increased the popularity of the practices and concepts of psychotherapy and counselling. The methods and ideas of psychoanalysis seem to be the major influence in this process which is manifest, for the most part, within private therapy and counselling and in the universities. It appears that family therapists and the institutes of psychoanalysis act as if unaware of this pragmatic acceptance of psychoanalytic thinking. The two disciplines of family therapy and psychoanalysis remain organizationally and conceptually disassociated from each other despite the two subjects having considerable overlap, plying adjacent trades and using theoretical ideas which show considerable parallels. The paper proposes that postmodern thinking is, potentially, an evolving link between the two forms of thinking and therapy but that the theories of both psychoanalysis and family therapy require empirical evaluation.     

A Review of “Mind to Mind: Infant Research,Neuroscience, and Psychoanalysis”

Abstract

This article examines current research pertaining to the relationship between a mother and her children, and how this relationship may affect sibling interactions. Issues such as temperament, gender, and the age gap between children are also explored to ascertain their impact on the sibling relationship.

The displacement of the first-born child and the ensuing sense of loss and anger he may experience as a result of this is explored. The mother's second pregnancy is also discussed in regard to the impact of unresolved issues relating to her own sibling relations. The mother's interactions with each child, her role as a model for identification, and marital relations are discussed in light of their impact on sibling relations.

The evolution of a positive attachment between siblings is explored. Rivalrous behavior between siblings is also discussed, particularly in association to the mother's treatment of her own children and the manner in which the mother deals with her own aggression.     

Psychoanalysis is a two‐way street

The paper discusses psychoanalysis as a mutual exchange between the analyst and analysand. A number of questions are raised: What was Ferenczi's and the early psychoanalysts' contribution to the interpersonal relational dynamics of psychoanalytic treatment? Why did countertransference become an indispensable tool in relationship‐based psychoanalysis? Why is the transference‐countertransference dynamic seen as a special dialogue between the analyst and analysand? What was Ferenczi's paradigm shift in the trauma theory? How did he combine the object relation approach with Freud's original trauma theory? The paper illustrates through some case study vignettes the intersubjective and intrapsychic dynamic in the process of traumatization. We can look at countertransference as an indicator of the patient's basic interpersonal experiences and traumas. Finally the paper discusses countertransference in the light of attachment theory, connecting the early initiatives of inter‐relational approaches in psychoanalysis with recent research.     

“To Materialize Their Every Wish”: Race,Class, and Psychoanalysis in White,Ralph, and Aron

Beginning with an anecdote from the author’s own analysis, this paper explores the phantoms (musical, cultural, and historical) that are conjured up by psychoanalysis. In so doing, it extends the author’s reflections, published in the third 2011 issue of this journal, on the relationship between psychoanalysis and historical materialism.     

Credo?: Religion and Psychoanalysis by Patrick Casement,Aeon Books Ltd,London, 2020, 84 pp.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Attachment,Resilience, and Psychoanalysis Commentary on Hauser and Allen's “Overcoming Adversity in Adolescence”

Hauser and Allen present a novel technique for describing the narratives of resilient adolescents based on their observation of factors associated with resilience and the role of attachment theory in understanding the quality of resilience-promoting relationships. This contribution is discussed in light of their previous work in the field and current resilience research. Contemporary lessons from developmental research and psychotherapy process research are also described in the context of this article. An integration of narrative techniques for hypothesis generation, quantitative measures for hypothesis testing, attachment research, and theories of mechanism of action in psychodynamic psychotherapy is proposed.     

A Dangerous Movie? Hollywood Does Psychoanalysis

After the appearance of David Cronenberg’s film A Dangerous Method in 2011, dealing with the relationships of Sigmund Freud, C. G. Jung and Sabina Spielrein, Dr. Donald Ferrell published: A Dangerous Method, A Film Directed by David Cronenberg: An Extended Review (Ferrell 2012) in the Journal of Religion and Health. Upon its publication, Dr. Ferrell’s article was nominated for a Gradiva Award by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis. On November 1, 2013, the Association for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society held its annual conference at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Dr. Billie Pivnick, a member at large of the Board of Directors of the APCS and also on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Religion and Health, persuaded the 2013 Conference Program Committee that Cronenberg’s film would make an interesting subject for discussion for conference participants. To that end, Dr. Pivnick invited Dr. Ferrell, C. G. Jung Institute of New York, Dr. Steven Reisner, Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, and Dr. Martin Silverman, Training and Supervising Analyst and Supervising Child Analyst at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Education, NYU College of Medicine, Training and Supervising Analyst at the Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of New Jersey, and Associate Editor of The Psychoanalytic Quarterly to serve as panel members to discuss: A Dangerous Movie? Hollywood does Psychoanalysis. Presentations on Cronenberg’s film and the early history of psychoanalysis were given by Drs. Ferrell and Reisner, followed by a response to their presentations by Dr. Silverman. Dr. Pivnick chaired the session. The articles presented here were given originally at the APCS conference by Dr. Ferrell and Dr. Silverman. Dr. Reisner declined the invitation to submit his presentation for publication. Dr. Silverman’s remarks were based not only on the presentation given by Dr. Ferrell at the session on A Dangerous Movie?, but also on his close and careful reading of the extended review of Cronenberg’s film Dr. Ferrell published in the Journal of Religion and Health, as well as Dr. Reisner’s presentation. It was appropriate for Dr. Silverman to serve in his capacity as discussant since he had earlier published a critical review of A Secret Symmetry. Sabina Spielrein Between Jung and Freud by Aldo Carotenuto (Silverman 1985).     

‘Misery Loves Company’: Sexual Trauma, Psychoanalysis and the Market for Misery

This article examines sexual 'misery memoirs', focusing on author/reader and genre/market relationships in the context of models of trauma and child sexual abuse. It shows that the success of sexual 'misery memoirs' is inextricably bound up with the popular dissemination of a feminist-psychoanalytic model of traumatic memory that has taken place since the 1970s. It also argues that, as the 'truth' of recovered and traumatic memories has been fundamental to its success, anxieties about false memory and hoax 'misery memoirs' have posed a challenge to the genre and established a market for 'retractor' narratives.     

Rapprochement in Sight? Postmodern Family Therapy and Psychoanalysis

This paper explores aspects of the theory and practice of psychotherapy with the aim of identifying similarities in the approaches of both family therapists and psychoanalytic psychotherapists. The author calls for a dialogue between the disciplines, and makes specific reference to the potential value of this in relation to training and research.