H. S. Sullivan and “Interpersonal Learning”

Abstract

Although many of the basic tenets of Harry Stack Sullivan’s interpersonal theory have been incorporated into the Relational School of psychoanalysis, Sullivan’s original ideas about clinical practice are, in many respects, distinct from the intersubjective perspective of relational psychotherapists. Using three case examples that addressed a similar clinical problem, Sullivan’s approach to clinical practice will be contrasted with contemporary relational approaches.

KEYWORDS:

• clinical social work
• interpersonal theory
• psychoanalysis

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joel Kanter

Joel Kanter, MSW, LCSW-C, is in the private practice of psychotherapy in Silver Spring, Maryland, and is on the faculty at the Institute for Clinical Social Work. A graduate of Smith College School for Social Work, he completed postgraduate training in psychotherapy at the Washington School of Psychiatry. Recognized as a Distinguished Practitioner by the National Academy of Practice in Social Work, he is a consulting editor of the Clinical Social Work Journal. His publications include Coping Strategies for Relatives of the Mentally Ill (NAMI, 1984), Clinical Studies in Case Management (Jossey-Bass, 1995), and Face to Face with Children: The Life and Work of Clare Winnicott.