Lines of Development - Evolution of Theory and Practice over the Decades Series – serie

This volume honours Anna Freud's work and legacy by providing a detailed summary of the Psychoanalytic Developmental Tradition and illustrations of its contributions to the field of Child Psychotherapy and beyond. Through the use of clinical, historical, anecdotal and outreach narratives, this book seeks to acknowledge how regardless of the evolution of child psychoanalytic theory and practice, and recent changes at the Anna Freud Centre in terms of a broad scope of trainings and interventions, the underlying psychoanalytic principles set by its founder continue to inform the work of clinicians and scholars, both within and outside this school of thought.

Ronald Fairbairn developed a thoroughgoing object relations theory that became a foundation for modern clinical thought. This volume is homage to the enduring power of his thinking, and of his importance now and for the future of relational thinking within the social and human sciences. The book gathers an international group of therapists, analysts, psychiatrists, social commentators, and historians, who contend that Fairbairn's work extends powerfully beyond the therapeutic. They suggest that social, cultural, and historical dimensions can all be illuminated by his work.Object relations as a strand within psychoanalysis began with Freud and passed through Ferenczi and Rank, Balint, Suttie, and Klein, to come of age in Fairbairn's papers of the early 1940s. That there is still life in this line of thinking is illustrated by the essays in this collection and by the modern relational turn in psychoanalytic theory, the development of attachment theory, and the increasing recognition that there is 'no such thing as an ego' without context, without relationships, without a social milieu. One of the most fascinating aspects of the papers collected here is that many of them point towards further development of the object relations approach by detailed examination of some of Fairbairn's papers that have so far been less recognised. The writers in this volume evince the hope that the further development of the object relations paradigm will not only benefit clinical work, but will also extend beyond the psychoanalytic clinical realm to psychosocial and cultural issues.

The Lacanian tradition is unique among psychoanalytic schools in its influence upon academic fields such as literature, philosophy, cultural and critical studies. This book aims to make Lacan's ideas accessible and relevant also to mainstream psychoanalysts, and to showcase developments in Lacanian thinking since his death in 1981. The volume highlights the clinical usefulness of such concepts as the paternal metaphor, the formula of fantasy, psychic structure, the central role of desire and the interlinking of the individual subject in the matrix of the Other. While these themes are woven through all the papers, each is a highly individual reflection upon some aspect of Lacanian theory, practice or history. Bernard Burgoyne's close study of the sources of Lacan's academic inspirations clarifies many of his ideas; Sara Flanders' remarkable overview of the field of French psychoanalysis situates Lacan firmly at its centre; while Lionel Bailly's exposition of Lacan's version of the Oedipus Complex reclaims a currently fashionable area of psychoanalysis for the man who alone in the 1950s made the case for the necessity of the tripartite structure of object-relations in the psyche. Berges and Balbo's work shows Lacanian thinking presaging recent evidence-based ideas of how mother-baby interactions bring into being the ability to mentalise and the development of subjectivity itself. Nobus' paper encapsulates the trajectory and aim of a Lacanian analysis. These pages will, the editors hope, open the reader's eyes to the fertility and importance of the Lacan tradition and bring it closer into the fold of psychoanalytic thought.

This volume in a book series on psychoanalytic leaders, provides a geographically global sampler of writing stemming from Winnicott's complex and paradoxical thinking. In the first section, on his work and legacy, his thinking is put into a context to reveal something of the origins, significant milestones, contemporary development, and theoretical expansion of his thinking. In the second section, there is a recognition of the fact that Winnicott privileged clinical work. This section aims to illustrate the evolution of theory, expansion of concepts and applications of Winnicott's body of work to the clinical situation with both children and adults in a variety of settings which include private practice, the health services and residential programmes in a varied array of settings worldwide. The third section on applications of Winnicott's work outside the consulting room celebrates his special capacity as a bridge-builder and as a figure whose work has had a very wide appeal and influence. His work continues to grow in its influence and to an unusual degree it informs the work of allied professionals and those in very many different disciplines, domains of thought and work sectors to that of the traditional clinical ones of health and education. Several chapters indicate how his creativity inspired those in the creative disciplines. Lastly, the fourth section provides personal reflections and accounts from those familiar with Winnicott's work or with the man himself and gives the reader an opportunity to experience the evolution of his thinking and influence through the eyes of contributors who have pertinent historical recollections and experiences.