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The psychoanalytic situation has the power to change subjective awareness and one's experience of the world. And as our clients are changed, so too are we. There are complex dynamics within the dyad that fortify us, disassemble our preconceived notions, and enrich our understanding of ourselves and the other. It is possible to experience another type of transformation through encountering and absorbing the written word. In this way, I came away from Jeremy Safran's new book, Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Therapies, somehow changed. I must admit that I approached the book with skepticism. Only at the tail end of my reading did I become aware of the fact that I had been reading with an unusually critical eye, continuously wondering what made Safran's book unique and questioning the journey he was taking me on. Having read numerous books over the past year that present an overview of psychoanalytic or psychodynamic psychotherapy, perhaps I was tired or simply saturated with this type of writing. I found myself wondering, “What could this text offer that has not already been detailed in similar publications?” (Bateman & Holmes, 1995; Cabaniss, Cherry, Douglas, & Schwartz, 2011; Gabbard, 2010; McWilliams, 2004). However, in the end the answer is: quite a lot.
Safran's book is rooted in two broader contexts. First, Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Therapies is part of a larger series of American Psychological Association books—with 24 titles planned—entitled the Theories of Psychotherapy Series. Each book is written by a leading proponent and practitioner of the respective theory, with the entire series geared toward a graduate-level audience. The books are also paired with DVDs that demonstrate the therapy process over the course of six sessions. Safran's book can be coupled with the DVD Psychoanalytic Therapy Over Time (featuring Jeremy Safran himself), which was produced in 2008.
The second contextual framework is more substantive and is part of what makes Safran's