From Id to Intersubjectivity: Talking about the Talking Cure with Master Clinicians

Psychoanalysis has moved a long way from the techniques of classical psychoanalysis but these changes have not been understood or disseminated to the wider community. Even university scholars and students of psychology have an archetypal view of the original form of psychoanalysis and do not appreciate that major changes have occurred.

This book commences with a detailed outline of the origins of psychoanalysis and an explanation of key terms, which are often misinterpreted. The second chapter examines the changes that have occurred in theorising and practice over the past 120 years and explores key developments. The following chapters contain an interview with a practitioner working in one of each of the four major branches of modern psychoanalysis – object relations, attachment informed psychotherapy, intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy, and relational and intersubjective theory. There follows textual, content, conceptual, and thematic analyses of the transcripts of interviews and commentaries on a therapy excerpt exploring commonalities and differences among these theoretical approaches. The book closes with a consideration of how these differences translate into clinical practice.

This book aims to appeal to a wide audience, including clinical practitioners, students of psychology and psychotherapy, the informed lay public, and those thinking about commencing an analysis.