How Does Contemporary Psychoanalysis Work? The Two Analyses of Dr. R.F.

ABSTRACT

An accomplished psychiatrist/psychoanalyst presents details of his ego psychological analysis during training and begins a second analysis some 20 plus years later to address remaining issues of “work and love.” The second analysis was very different from the first. This author suggests that the differences can be accounted for by the paradigmatic changes in psychoanalytic theory and technique that have occurred over the past 60 years as well as by the particular subjectivities of these two protagonists and their co-creation of a facilitative, growth-promoting intersubjective field.

KEYWORDS:

• Second analysis
• intersubjective field
• therapeutic action
• relational field
• implicit processing
• procedures of interaction
• relational experience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James L. Fosshage

James L. Fosshage, Ph.D., is Founding Member and Past President of the International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology (IAPSP) and Advisory Board Member, International Association for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP). He is Co-founder, Board Director, Supervisor and Faculty member of the National Institute for the Psychotherapies (NYC) and NIP’s National Training Program; Founding Faculty Member, Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity (NYC); and Clinical Professor of Psychology and Consultant of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Dr. Fosshage is on the Editorial Boards of 8 psychoanalytic journals, including Psychoanalytic Inquiry, Psychoanalytic Dialogues, and Psychoanalysis, Self and Context. Author of over 140 psychoanalytic publications, including 10 books, his latest book, coauthored with Joseph Lichtenberg and Frank Lachmann, is entitled An Experienced-Based Vision of Psychoanalytic Theory and Practice (2021). He maintains a private practice in New York City and Tenafly, New Jersey. His website is www.jamesfosshage.net.