Abstract
The author responds to four reviews of his book Impossible Training. He describes how the book came into being, discusses his attitude to the Freud—Ferenczi and Klein—Winnicott debates, and raises the dangers of rigid views as to what is truly psychoanalytic and what is truly relational. The global scene of psychoanalytic training today is discussed. It is suggested that critiques do have an impact on psychoanalytic education and that in spite of its flaws and inner contradictions, this education raised generations of sophisticated thinkers and sensitive clinicians.
Notes
1The whole debate is accessible at http://www.ipa.org.uk On the left side choose IPA News, and then eNewsletters (choose IPA Electronic Newsletter 2, June 2006) and later also News Magazine (choose Winter 2006).
2The notion of thirdness arouses interesting issues, but I am concerned about its becoming a trendy overinclusive term. I therefore avoid it here and prefer a clearer and more experience-near term as potential space, which Slavin also uses.