Field Theory in Psychoanalysis, Part I: Harry Stack Sullivan and Madeleine and Willy Baranger

Abstract

This is the first of two articles comparing conceptions of the field in interpersonal/relational psychoanalysis (IRP) and Bionian field theory (BFT). This article compares the thinking of the originators of IRP and BFT, Harry Stack Sullivan and Madeleine and Willy Baranger.

Notes

¹But see also Benjamin Wolstein (1959; Bonovitz, 2009), an interpersonal analyst who referred as early as 1959 to the “interlock” of transference and countertransference.

²Tubert-Oklander (2007) and Fiscalini (2007), the only other writers I know who have commented on the appearance of the field concept in the work of Sullivan and the Barangers, both recognize Sullivan's precedence. That takes nothing away from the Barangers, who developed their ideas independently.

³The quotations within this passage are unreferenced. They are taken from M. Baranger and Baranger (1961–1962/2008). For citation, see the more complete quotation in the text, below.