A New Freudian Synthesis: Clinical Process in the Next Generation

This work presents a vision of contemporary Freudian psychoanalysis. The contributors show how modern Freudian analysts have translated and retranslated the contributions of analysts on whose shoulders they stand, including Freud, Winnicott, Loewald, Ferenczi, and others and synthesized them into a new conception of Freudian theory and technique.

The opening chapters provide a theoretical overview, demonstrating the evolution of Freudian theory and ways in which different theories can be integrated. The latter chapters, forming the bulk of the volume, translate that frame into clinical process. Analysts confronted with clinical dilemmas—for example, patients who cannot, for various reasons, use interpretations productively—find ways to address these dilemmas while deepening the analytic process. The reader will find that a new synthesis has taken place in which the relationship with the analyst is a crucial element in setting the stage for patients to take a closer look into their inner world. This detailed examination of the clinical techniques that were implied but not developed by past analysts has led to a new Freudian synthesis, which is the unique contribution of this volume.