Conversations with Clinicians

Adam Phillipsi hails Christopher Bollas as “the most evocative psychoanalytic writer we have.” André Greenii describes him as

… a psychoanalyst who does not write like a psychoanalyst …. The people he writes about — the people, not the patients — are not only like ourselves but all the same like shadows of ourselves. They belong to a familial yet enigmatic kind met in the world of fiction — characters, as they are called — though more real than so many of our fellow men.

Bollas has written numerous books that have become seminal reading for anyone who appreciates psychoanalytic thinking. The Shadow of the Object, written in 1987, leads the prolific list of books he has published over the past 20 years, each of which rigorously grapples with the unconscious in all of its communications and manifestations. Between 2004 and 2006, Bollas turned to fiction, publishing a novella trilogy and a compilation of his plays, one of which, Theraplay, was produced at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre workshop in 2005. His most recent book is The Freudian Moment, which was published earlier in 2007.

We began this interview in January of this year and conversed by email over the next five months. Although I missed the energy of an in-person interview, I was grateful for having the time between our back and forth communication to think about Bollas's deeply thoughtful responses. I hope you enjoy reading this conversation as much as I enjoyed taking part in it.