Book Review
Psychotherapy
Way Beyond Freud: Postmodern Psychoanalysis Observed Joseph Reppen, Jane Tucker, Martin Schulman, editors. London (UK): Open Gate Press; 2004. 301 p. US$64.95.
Reviewer
rating*: Good
Review by: Paul Ian Steinberg, MD, FRCPC,
Edmonton, Alberta
This is a welcome review of postmodern psychoanalytic thought. Given space constraints, I cannot review every chapter in detail. This book is a sequel to the first editor’s original text (1), but the format is different. The editors’ introduction gives an engaging description of what postmodern psychoanalysts have in common and what distinguishes them from classical analysts. The individual chapters of Beyond Freud describe the work of an influential theorist. Way Beyond Freud’s chapters develop concepts rather than examining the work of a single author. Robert Bornstein’s political agenda is to provide a framework for reconnecting psychoanalysis to mainstream psychology and reclaiming psychoanalytic ideas that have been coopted by others. He examines the factors contributing to the marginalization of psychoanalysis and proposes strategies to reconnect it to mainstream psychology. Donald Spence critiques the belief that numbers alone can capture important pieces of the psychoanalytic program. David Pincus concentrates on the nature of reality and examines current conceptualizations of the psychoanalytic situation that call into question the nature of truth and reality. These chapters demand that readers have an interest beyond clinically oriented theory and describe the historical and philosophical context in which psychoanalysis has developed in the last 20 years.
William Meissner discusses theories of the self and their role in psychoanalysis, arguing that these theories are in a state of uncertainty and ambiguity. His chapter is densely footnoted and referenced. Although his scholarship is admirable, the frequent notes interfere with the flow of the text. Kimberlyn Leary argues that the turn to postmodern psychoanalysis is complete, that contemporary clinical theory recognizes the intersubjective in psychoanalytic work. Leary’s chapter contains the first overt clinical material in the book. (Readers looking for a mainly clinically oriented book will be disappointed.) Frank Summers argues that neither the relational, the objectivist, nor the narrative theorists have established a basis for psychoanalytic knowledge. He argues that establishing knowledge by interpreting from what is said to what is meant is fundamentally a different form of knowledge than that recognized by a natural science–objectivist position. Michael Miller proposes that action-oriented techniques change the implicit procedural memories that mediate affect regulation, self-esteem maintenance, and object relations. Miller employs empirical evidence for a system of mutual communication and regulation between mother and infant to describe a system of mutual influence between analyst and patient. The implications for psychoanalytic practice are more easily readable and clearly pragmatic than in some other chapters and are based on previously outlined theory and research. In an excellent and obviously clinically relevant chapter, Arnold Rachman deconstructs the notion of anonymity and the taboo against self-disclosure, showing how Ferenczi approached self-disclosure from the point of view of therapeutic efficacy.
This book informs the reader of the intellectual—especially the philosophical—trends influencing contemporary psychoanalytic theory and practice. It is not a clinical “how-to” manual describing postmodern technique—which, according to some authors, does not exist. Unfortunately, I found a disconcerting lack of continuity between the chapters: they do not flow freely into one another, and I am not sure they could be made to do so. This book was not easy reading for me; I would have enjoyed it more if the authors had illustrated their points with more clinical examples. As a whole, the book is highly theoretical. However, I enjoyed it more and more as I read it, which may reflect my limitations as a reader. It is impressively well referenced. The price seems high for a book of 300 pages.
Reference
1. Reppen J. Beyond Freud: a study of modern psychoanalytic theorists. Hillsdale (NJ): The Analytic Press; 1985.
*Reviewer
Rating Scale/ Échelle d’évaluation du réviseur
Excellent / Excellent
Very Good / Très bon
Good / Bon
Fair / Passable
Not recommended / Pas recommandé
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