The Intersubjective Perspective, edited by Robert Stolorow, George Atwood, and Bernard Brandchaft,  Jason Aronson Inc., 1994,  220 ps.

This volume, in which ten of fourteen chapters are written by the editors, is the fifth in a series of works on intersubjective theory. The Intersubjective Perspective examines how the change in perspective that is articulated in these works impacts on psychoanalysis. In this perspective, all “psychological phenomena, including even unconscious conflicts and defenses, are understood as properties of an intersubjective system and thus as taking form at the interface of two interacting subjectivities” (p. 7). As both critics and adherents would agree, this involves an emphasis on the two-person nature of both psychological development and psychoanalytic treatment. In this book, more than in any previous work, there is attention to clinical work, with ample case material and chapters devoted to treatment of particular types of patients, such as those viewed as “difficult,” “aggressive,” or “masochistic.” This book provides a thorough grounding in intersubjective theory for the novice who is unfamiliar with the authors' previous works. For the more experienced reader, the expanding applications of intersubjective theory are often thought-provoking.

The first section of this book consists of three articles devoted to “Intersubjectivity”; these articles attempt to articulate intersubjective theory and place it within the history of philosophy and psychoanalysis. A complete, easily understood overview of this theory is demonstrated in the first two articles. The third article, “Subjectivity and Self Psychology” by Robert Stolorow, is an account of the author's “odyssey” in the development of intersubjective theory, and an attempt to separate this theory from elements of self psychology. This article is the most unsatisfying article in the book; while it attempts to address many of the criticisms levied at intersubjective theory, it does not in fact illuminate much about the theory.

The second section of this book is devoted to “Intersubjectivity and the Therapeutic Process.”