Editorial

Often in our professional discussions recently, it seems there is a tendency to alight on the element of envious destructiveness as the keystone to emotional disorder, no matter what our theoretical orientation. This can sometimes sound like a one-noted trumpet that might obscure other important emotional states needing attention. Shame is basic to our experience of being human, but perhaps we have not fully recognised the importance of its undertones. Malcolm Pines writes of the various aspects of shame and how sensitive handling of it in psychotherapy can release affect and strengthen the self. In a different vein, we try never to underestimate the importance of mourning, but has it undergone a sea change in post-modern culture? Ian Craib rebukes the therapeutic community for what he sees as a formulaic approach, distorting the mourning process and over-socialising the individual away from the full implication of loss. David Malan does not quite agree with Ian Craib, and gives here his Response. Turning to the phenomena of silence and emptiness, we see that they can have quite different meanings from the point of view of other disciplines, and yet be related to and contribute to our understanding of the way the mind works: Michael Del Monte provides an illuminating guide to meditation practices.

The Student Essay First Prize for 1994 went to Francis Grier, whose paper might be described as variations on theoretical themes, how they can work together to enhance each other, and how they can firmly structure once-a-week work. He finds Kleinian theory most useful for understanding defensive and communicative systems, and Fairbairnian theory best for contemplating the inner world. He relates the internal saboteur to Bion's and Rosenfeld's psychotic part of the personality, an inner force that prevents libidinal attachments.

The Joint Conference held by the BJP and the Freud Museum in February 1994 - ‘Hysteria Today: 100 Years since Freud’- was a successful event indicati