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To my mind, there is no one more fluent in and no one better able to clearly articulate comparative analyses of different psychoanalytic orientations than Morris Eagle. His latest book, Core Concepts in Contemporary Psychoanalysis: Clinical, Research Evidence and Conceptual Critiques, is no exception. What makes this book different from his previous books is his focus on empirical research and what this means for psychoanalysis. This questioning stance with regard to what is therapeutic in psychoanalysis is quite refreshing. It should be noted that Eagle also published a companion piece in 2018 entitled Core Concepts in Classical Psychoanalysis, which is not a part of this review. Explaining the reasons for these texts, Eagle writes that his major objective “is to address one large question: Of the core concepts and formulations of psychoanalytic theory, which ones should be discarded; which ones should be modified and in what ways; and which ones should be retained, all in the light of research findings, clinical evidence and conceptual critiques?” (Introduction, para. 1)
Topics included in Core Concepts in Contemporary Psychoanalysis include (1) transference, (2) countertransference, (3) projection and projective identification, and (4) psychoanalytic styles of writing, thinking, and habits of mind. Each of these topics is greatly enriched by Eagle's giftedness in being able to bring clarity to difficult concepts without sacrificing complexity.
Eagle begins by examining the concept of transference from different psychoanalytic perspectives. More specifically, he focuses on the following orientations: Freudian, self psychology, Fairbairn, Control-Mastery theory, attachment theory, and even a Piagetian viewpoint (though this latter focus is used more to elucidate ideas from attachment theory and Control-Mastery theory by highlighting the two essential aspects of schema from a Piagetian perspective - assimilation and accommodation). There is one particularly glaring om