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Adaunting goal faced by psychoanalytic clinical researchers is meaningfully linking nuanced theoretical and clinical constructs to specific patterns of subjective and behavioral events. One of the papers in this section, Wilma Bucci and Bernard Maskit's “Beneath the Surface of the Therapeutic Interaction,” speaks to this formidable concern: “we have developed a general psychological framework within which the concepts of psychoanalytic process can be systematically defined and linked to observable events.” This vital theme is threaded through the three outstanding clinical research papers drawn together in this issue's research section.
Curious readers may wonder about more specific connections among these contributions, which address seemingly diverse topics—gender melancholy, components of therapeutic relationships, and psychoanalytic method. At first glance, these papers surely appear to be coming from very different domains, and pursuing very different questions. Yet further examination reveals deeper convergences. The authors are passionately interested in looking at theoretical and clinical questions in new ways; they specifically focus on processes leading to and embedded in complex experiential and interpersonal phenomena. Their innovative papers explore issues relating to clinical, conceptual, and empirical issues. Most strikingly, these papers are interdisciplinary, drawing on psychoanalysis, developmental theory, empirical studies of change, and cognitive linguistic science as they grapple with clinically compelling topics. An especially welcome feature of the papers is that they are crafted to be clear and clinician-friendly, fully intending to