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For many years, i have suggested Greenberg and Mitchell's 1983 book, Object Relations and Psychoanalytic Theory, to supervisees who want or need an overview of some or all of the many theorists covered in the book. In 2009, while recommending the book once again, it became apparent to me that the 25th anniversary of the publication of this landmark volume had passed without a mention—that I was aware of—in Interpersonal and Relational circles. I decided to see if we could commemorate the book's longevity and continuing relevance by organizing a Tuesday morning Clinical Education Meeting at the William Alanson White Institute around this topic. Jay Greenberg was gracious and humbled by the invitation to speak at such a meeting. Jay and I discussed the idea of having Margaret Black stand in for the deceased Stephen Mitchell, to which Jay was enthusiastic. Margaret Black, a respected analyst in her own right, was also gracious and helpful throughout the process. Ruth Imber was invited to be the discussant. After the panel was created with Greenberg, Black, Imber, and Zaphiropoulos as the key members, a date was set for September 21, 2010. The panel was titled “The 25th Anniversary (+2) of the Publication of Jay Greenberg's and Stephen Mitchell's Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory.”
The presentations and the ensuing discussion with Imber and the audience were exciting and moving. Imber disclosed that the book had not been reviewed in Contemporary Psychoanalysis upon its publication—perhaps an indication of the ambivalence with which some Interpersonalists received one of the premises of the book, i.e., the “relational” commonalities among many theories of psychoanalysis. Mark Blechner, the editor of Contemporary Psychoanalysis at that time, was in the audience.