Victoria Demos - The Collected Papers of Emmanuel Ghent: Heart Melts Forward

The Collected Papers of Emmanuel Ghent

This book is an engaging study, using Emmanuel Ghents collected papers, of theoretical and personal origins of the relational turn in psychoanalysis. Emmanuel Ghent was one of the founders of relational psychoanalysis,and his ideas have been hugely influential. However, he published sparingly and his papers are scattered across a range of sources. In this book,his key writings are reproduced, along with analyses and critiques by major contemporary psychoanalytic writers.

This book provides a thorough examination of the key tenets of Ghents thinking and illustrates the continued importance of his theoretical andclinical work for the next generation of psychoanalysts.

Victoria Demos is Supervisor at the Institute for ContemporaryPsychotherapy, New York.

Adrienne Harris is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology (Adjunct)and Clinical Consultant on the Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, New York University.

RELATIONAL PERSPECTIVES BOOK SERIES

LEWIS ARON & ADRIENNE HARRIS

Series Co-Editors

STEVEN KUCHUCK & EYAL ROZMARIN

Associate Editors

The Relational Perspectives Book Series (RPBS) publishes books that grow out of or contribute to the relational tradition in contemporary psychoanalysis.The term relational psychoanalysis was first used by Greenberg and Mitchell to bridge the traditions of interpersonal relations, as developed within interpersonal psychoanalysis and object relations, as developed within contemporary British theory. But, under the seminal work of the late Stephen A. Mitchell, the term relational psychoanalysis grew and began to accrue to itself many other influences and developments. Various tributariesinterpersonal psychoanalysis, object relations theory, self psychology, empirical infancy research, and elements of contemporary Freudian and Kleinian thoughtflow into this tradition, which understands relational configurations between self and others, both real and fantasied, as the primary subject of psychoanalytic investigation.

We refer to the relational tradition, rather than to a relational school, to highlight that we are identifying a trend, a tendency within contemporary psychoanalysis, not a more formally organized or coherent school or system of beliefs. Our use of the term relational signifies a dimension of theory and practice that has become salient across the wide spectrum of contemporary psychoanalysis. Now under the editorial supervision of Lewis Aron and Adrienne Harris, with the assistance of Associate Editors Steven Kuchuck and Eyal Rozmarin, the Relational Perspectives Book Series originated in 1990 under the editorial eye of the late Stephen A. Mitchell. Mitchell was the most prolific and influential of the originators of the relational tradition. Committed to dialogue among psychoanalysts, he abhorred the authoritarianism that dictated adherence to a rigid set of beliefs or technical restrictions. He championed open discussion, comparative and integrative approaches, and promoted new voices across the generations.

Included in the Relational Perspectives Book Series are authors and works that come from within the relational tradition, extend and develop that tradition, as well as works that critique relational approaches or compare and contrast it with alternative points of view. The series includes our most distinguished senior psychoanalysts, along with younger contributors who bring fresh vision. A full list of titles in this series is available at https://www.routledge.com/series/LEARPBS.

Greenberg, J. & Mitchell, S. (1983). Object relations in psychoanalytic theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

The Collected Papers of Emmanuel Ghent

Heart Melts Forward

Edited by Victoria Demos and Adrienne Harris

First published 2018

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2018 selection and editorial matter, Victoria Demos and Adrienne Harris, individual chapters, the contributors

The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Title: The Collected Papers of Emmanuel Ghent

ISBN: 9781138926783

was successfully transmitted to the Library of Congress.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataNames: Ghent, Emmanuel, author. | Harris, Adrienne, editor. | Demos, Victoria, editor.Title: The collected papers of Emmanuel Ghent : heart melts forward / edited by Adrienne Harris and Victoria Demos.Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2017009835| ISBN 9781138926783 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138926790 (pbk.)Subjects: LCSH: Psychoanalysis.Classification: LCC BF173 .G479 2018 | DDC 150.19/5dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017009835

ISBN: 978-1-138-92678-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-92679-0 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-68297-6 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India

For our most esteemed and much missed colleagues from

The First Generation

Stephen Mitchell, Emmanuel Ghent, Muriel Dimen, Ruth Stein

Contents

ADRIENE HARIS AND VICTORIA DEMOS

ANTHONY BAS

EMMANUEL GHENT

JESICA BENJAMIN

EMMANUEL GHENT

MURIEL DIMEN

Emmanuel Ghent

C. SETH WAREN

EMMANUEL GHENT

BARY MAGID

EMMANUEL GHENT

EMMANUEL GHENT

CHAIM F. SHATAN, BENJAMIN BRODY, AND EMMANUEL GHENT

EMMANUEL GHENT

EMMANUEL GHENT AND LEWIS ARON

RON BALAMUTH

LEWIS ARON

VICTORIA DEMOS

JESICA BENJAMIN

ADRIENE HARIS

ADAM PHILIPS

VD:

I thank Adrienne, who conceived of this project and invited me to climb aboard. For her consistently wise and generous collaboration.

To Laura Kressel, who performed minor and major miracles on a weekly basis, and for steering me to The Years with Ross by James Thurber.

To our writing group with Heather Ferguson and Susan Klebanoff, who provided their encouragement, support and enthusiasm.

My thanks to Tom Cawley, who encouraged me every step of the way, and provided my foundation, past and present. To my son Ryan, who provides my inspiration for the future.

AH:

I thank Victoria Demos for wonderful co-editing and collaboration. A labour of love to be sure. But labour!