Jonah and Applied Psychoanalytic Dialogue: Introduction

This introduction to a series of fascinating papers on the biblical book of Jonah provides a brief schematic outline of the narrative as well as an orientation to the place of the book in the Jewish liturgy. An explanation is given for why a secular psychoanalytic audience might well be interested in such an effort at applied psychoanalysis. This rationale has to do with the story's universal as well as particularistic significance. Jonah himself may be viewed as attempting to escape from dialogue, but this lively and engaged psychoanalytic dialogue examines and debates the meaning of his story.     

The Tree of Knowledge: Good and Evil: Conflicting Interpretations

This article examines a debate concerning the exegesis of the story of the garden of Eden and the tree of knowledge, as told in Genesis. Two contradictory interpretations of the garden narrative are examined, the first as the story is elucidated by the psychoanalyst and social theorist Erich Fromm and the alternative interpretation by the Talmudic scholar and philosopher Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik. This article compares and contrasts their exegeses and the respective implications of each view. The controversy, which has profound implications, reflects differences in world views concerning the good life, autonomy and relatedness, assertion and submission, will and surrender, obedience and rebellion, independence and interdependence, subjectivity and intersubjectivity. Links are drawn to a variety of contemporary psychoanalytic theories, developments, and controversies.     

The Transference is Indeed a Cross: Commentary on Paper by Sue Grand

Sue Grand presents a case of “a near-death clinical impasse,” conjuring “God at an impasse.” She questions the philosophical premises and culture biases that inform the foundations of psychoanalytic theory. She asks how we rewrite “the psychoanalytic subject.” This commentary explores the themes of clinical impasse, psychoanalysis and religion, martyrdom and self-sacrifice, the negative Oedipus or “Jacob complex,” multiplicity of selves, and psychoanalytic witnessing. Most important, it challenges the tendency to polarize the Jewish and Christian narratives such that Judaism is depicted as “this worldly” in contrast to Christianity, which is seen as celebrating martyrdom in identification with Christ. It argues for psychoanalysis to recognize the spiritual value of submission and surrender without splitting them into polar oppositions.     

Min(d)ing Michael Shoshani (Rosenbaum's) Dare to be Human: Introduction

This introduction describes several of the unique features of Michael Shoshani (Rosenbaum's) (2009 Shoshani, M. (Rosenbaum). 2009. Dare to be human: A contemporary psychoanalytic journey, New York, NY: Routledge.  [Google Scholar]) Dare to be Human, a book that features the exceptionally broad and detailed case presentation of the psychoanalytic treatment of Daniel. Access is provided to the overall course of the analysis, samples of process and dialogue, biographical background information about the analyst, and two chapters authored by the patient posttreatment. A summary of the case is provided for those not familiar with the book, and four commentators take up varying aspects of this case presentation.     

Day,Night, or Dawn: Commentary on Paper by Steven Stern

It was in the years immediately following World War II and through the 1950s that the psychoanalytic establishment officially defined psychoanalysis as a subspecialty of psychiatry, and it was in that context of the professionalization of American medicine that they codified the distinction between psychoanalysis and (psychoanalytic) psychotherapy. In this commentary on Steven Stern's “Session Frequency and the Definition of Psychoanalysis,” I deconstruct a series of binaries that was built into the analysis/therapy distinction and that has plagued our discipline. It is argued that psychoanalysis identified itself with the culturally “masculine” and heterosexual values of autonomous individuality (the intrapsychic), while it split off all that was relational and social (interpersonal), marked as “feminine,” homosexual, and “primitive,” onto psychotherapy, which it then devalued. The paper then examines the implications for practice and psychoanalytic education.     

Psychoanalysis in the Workplace: An Introduction

This symposium provides an orientation for psychoanalytic clinicians to the world of psychoanalytically oriented organizational consulting, executive coaching, and related applications of psychoanalysis in the workplace. Psychologists and psychoanalysts have played a significant role in the development of organizational consulting and executive coaching, and many clinicians today express interest in transferring their skills from clinical settings to organizations and corporations. This introduction emphasizes the psychoanalytic clinical skill of ongoing reflection on relational processes and experiences, but it also recognizes that consulting requires additional and highly specific knowledge, skill, talent, and training.     

Psychoanalytic Healing,Love, Life,and Death: Commentary on Paper by Sheldon Bach

In his seminal clinical writings on psychoanalysis, Sheldon Bach transcends the limiting confines of individual and parochial schools of psychoanalysis. Both in “On Digital Consciousness” and in his 2006 Getting From There to Here: Analytic Love, Analytic Process, we see a strong relational dimension in Bach's work (see also Bach 1985 Bach, S. 1985. Narcissistic states and the therapeutic process, Northvale, NJ: Aronson.  [Google Scholar] and 1994), though he comes from firmly within the psychoanalytic mainstream. Bach's writings speak to clinicians across schools of thought, are clinically near to experience and are often moving. While he makes occasional mention of his contemporaries, Bach is grounded in more traditional references and only hints at his intellectual connection to relational and intersubjective theorists. One purpose of this commentary is to reflect on Bach's contribution to contemporary psychoanalysis and to draw out the connections between his work and the work of those within the broader relational and intersubjective community of psychoanalysis.     

Talking to Children About Maternal BRCA1/2 Genetic Test Results: A Qualitative Study of Parental Perceptions and Advice

Family communication is the primary, initial means of educating the next, at-risk generation about hereditary cancer risk. In this study, in-depth parent narratives provided self-report of motivations, planning, satisfactions and regrets associated with sharing or not sharing maternal BRCA1/2 test results with young children and advice for parents considering disclosure and for genetic counselors. Interviews were conducted with 32 mothers tested for BRCA1/2 with children ages 8–21 years and 24 of their co-parents; interview narratives were analyzed qualitatively. Parents were concerned with both protecting and educating children about hereditary cancer risk. They expressed confidence that parents can constructively convey genetic information to minor children. Telling relieved most parents and satisfied a sense of parental duty. Parents strongly advised child-specific, age-appropriate tailoring of genetic information and emphasized conveying the positive, preventive utility of genetic information to children. Immunizing effects of disclosure were viewed as providing forewarning about and preparation for possible later family cancer diagnoses. Parents choosing not to tell children were advised to consider future disclosure. Narratives about parental sharing of BRCA1/2 test results with minor children support the feasibility of parental discussion of maternal genetic test results to the next at-risk generation. Results suggest development of intervention tools for parents would support decision-making and family communication and potentially reduce parental worry and regret. Recommendations are made for more active involvement by genetic counselors with tested parents around the topic of delivery of genetic information to children.     

Neurophysiological Markers That Predict and Track Treatment Outcomes in Childhood Anxiety

The present study examined the cortical processes that mediate cognitive regulation in response to emotion-eliciting stimuli, before and after anxious children participated in a cognitive behavioral therapy program. Electroencephalographic activity was recorded from anxious children (n?=?24, 8 males) and comparison children (n?=?16, 7 males) at pre-and post-treatment sessions. The change in anxiety T-scores from pre- to post-treatment was used to signify clinical improvement among anxious children (Improvers: n?=?11 vs. Non-improvers: n?=?13). Event-related potential components were recorded while children performed a Go/No-go task using emotional facial expressions. For the P1 component, believed to reflect attention and/or arousal processes, Non-improvers had greater activation levels relative to Improver and comparison groups at both sessions. Greater P1 amplitudes at pre-treatment predicted non-improvement following treatment. For the frontal N2 component, thought to reflect cognitive control processing, Improvers recruited greater activation from pre- to post-treatment, a change in activation that was predictive of treatment outcome. Non-improvers showed increased cortical activation within the time window of the P1, whether at pre- or post-treatment. These data suggest that heightened perceptual vigilance may have led to poorer outcomes. Improvers showed increased prefrontal activation within the time window of the N2 from pre- to post-treatment. These data suggest that increased cognitive control may have led to improved treatment outcomes. In sum, P1 activation may serve as a predictor of treatment outcome, while N2 activation may serve as an indicator of treatment response.