Lewis Aron - Relational Psychoanalysis, Volume 4: Expansion of Theory

RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS

VOLUME 4

Expansion of Theory

EDITED BY

LEWIS ARON ADRIENNE HARRIS

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 (1983) 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, 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. He was committed to dialogue among psychoanalysts and 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 he 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 the 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.

RELATIONAL PERSPECTIVES BOOK SERIES

LEWIS ARON & ADRIENNE HARRIS

Series Editors

Vol. 52

Relational Psychoanalysis, V. V: Evolution of Process

Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.)

Vol. 51

Relational Psychoanalysis, V. IV: Expansion of Theory

Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.)

Vol. 50

With Culture in Mind: Psychoanalytic Stories

Muriel Dimen (ed.)

Vol. 49

Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Relational Approach

Elizabeth F. Howell

Vol. 48

Toward Mutual Recognition: Relational Psychoanalysis and the Christian Narrative

Marie T. Hoffman

Vol. 47

Uprooted Minds: Surviving the Politics of Terror in the Americas

Nancy Caro Hollander

Vol. 46

A Disturbance in the Field: Essays in Transference-Countertransference Engagement

Steven H. Cooper

Vol. 45

First Do No Harm: The Paradoxical Encounters of Psychoanalysis, Warmaking, and Resistance

Adrienne Harris & Steven Botticelli (eds.)

Vol. 44

Good Enough Endings: Breaks, Interruptions, and Terminations from Contemporary Relational Perspectives

Jill Salberg (ed.)

Vol. 43

Invasive Objects: Minds Under Siege

Paul Williams

Vol. 42

Sabert Basescu: Selected Papers on Human Nature and Psychoanalysis

George Goldstein & Helen Golden (eds.)

Vol. 41

The Hero in the Mirror: From Fear to Fortitude

Sue Grand

Vol. 40

The Analyst in the Inner City, Second Edition: Race, Class, and Culture Through a Psychoanalytic Lens

Neil Altman

Vol. 39

Dare to be Human: A Contemporary Psychoanalytic Journey

Michael Shoshani Rosenbaum

Vol. 38

Repair of the Soul: Metaphors of Transformation in Jewish Mysticism and Psychoanalysis

Karen E. Starr

Vol. 37

Adolescent Identities: A Collection of Readings

Deborah Browning (ed.)

Vol. 36

Bodies in Treatment: The Unspoken Dimension

Frances Sommer Anderson (ed.)

Vol. 35

Comparative-Integrative Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective for the Disciplines Second Century

Brent Willock

Vol. 34

Relational Psychoanalysis, V. III: New Voices

Melanie Suchet, Adrienne Harris, & Lewis Aron (eds.)

Vol. 33

Creating Bodies: Eating Disorders as Self-Destructive Survival

Katie Gentile

Vol. 32

Getting From Here to There: Analytic Love, Analytic Process

Sheldon Bach

Vol. 31

Unconscious Fantasies and the Relational World

Danielle Knafo & Kenneth Feiner

Vol. 30

The Healers Bent: Solitude and Dialogue in the Clinical Encounter

James T. McLaughlin

Vol. 29

Child Therapy in the Great Outdoors: A Relational View

Sebastiano Santostefano

Vol. 28

Relational Psychoanalysis, V. II: Innovation and Expansion

Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.)

Vol. 27

The Designed Self: Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Identities

Carlo Strenger

Vol. 26

Impossible Training: A Relational View of Psychoanalytic Education

Emanuel Berman

Vol. 25

Gender as Soft Assembly

Adrienne Harris

Vol. 24

Minding Spirituality

Randall Lehman Sorenson

Vol. 23

September 11: Trauma and Human Bonds

Susan W. Coates, Jane L. Rosenthal, & Daniel S. Schechter (eds.)

Vol. 22

Sexuality, Intimacy, Power

Muriel Dimen

Vol. 21

Looking for Ground: Countertransference and the Problem of Value in Psychoanalysis

Peter G. M. Carnochan

Vol. 20

Relationality: From Attachment to Intersubjectivity

Stephen A. Mitchell

Vol. 19

Who is the Dreamer, Who Dreams the Dream? A Study of Psychic Presences

James S. Grotstein

Vol. 18

Objects of Hope: Exploring Possibility and Limit in Psychoanalysis

Steven H. Cooper

Vol. 17

The Reproduction of Evil: A Clinical and Cultural Perspective

Sue Grand

Vol. 16

Psychoanalytic Participation: Action, Interaction, and Integration

Kenneth A. Frank

Vol. 15

The Collapse of the Self and Its Therapeutic Restoration

Rochelle G. K. Kainer

Vol. 14

Relational Psychoanalysis: The Emergence of a Tradition

Stephen A. Mitchell & Lewis Aron (eds.)

Vol. 13

Seduction, Surrender, and Transformation: Emotional Engagement in the Analytic Process

Karen Maroda

Vol. 12

Relational Perspectives on the Body

Lewis Aron & Frances Sommer Anderson

(eds.)

Vol. 11

Building Bridges: Negotiation of Paradox in Psychoanalysis

Stuart A. Pizer

Vol. 10

Fairbairn, Then and Now