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Dear Editor,
Re Errata in: “When the Couple is Not Enough, or When the Couple is Too Much: Exploring the Meaning and Management of Open Relationships”, D. McCann, Couple and Family Psychoanalysis, 7(1): 45-58 .
I wish to offer a full and unreserved apology for the misuse of the paper “Infidelity as Manic Defence” by Shelley Nathans, (Couple and Family Psychoanalysis, 2(2): 165-180 ) in the writing and publication of my paper cited above.
Although I did reference Nathans’ work in my paper, it has been brought to my attention that unfortunately on p. 52, para 1, and on p. 54, para 2, text from her paper (Nathans p. 170, para. 2 and p. 168, para 1, respectively) has been fractured and used by me unreferenced in the writing of my paper. I believe that this situation has arisen as a consequence of my paper going through various iterations and rewrites resulting in me losing touch with the original source of the material and drifting instead into a narrative using some of Nathans’ words and ideas to formulate an aspect of my argument.
I would also like to correct any potential misunderstanding arising from my paper (p. 54) that might imply that Nathans, in any way, views negotiated non-monogamous relationships as pathological, a view that she explicitly rejects (Nathans, , p. 168, para 1).
My intention in writing the paper was twofold: firstly, I wished to challenge the predominant valorisation of the closed monogamous couple relationship that is so much at the heart of couple psychoanalytic theory; and, secondly, I wanted to raise questions that I hoped might stimulate further thinking within the field, rather than offering fully formed arguments that would diminish, dismiss, or attack the thinking of others, especially that of Nathans, whose work I value enormously.
Finally, I also wish to make the assurance that in any future use of my 2017 paper, as referenced above, I will, of course, reflect the changes outlined in this letter.
Damian McCann