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This slim volume is a treasure trove of contemporary psychoanalytic thought on theory and clinical practice in the United States. The book goes well beyond its title and provides a much needed overview of the complex divergent theoretical positions and their clinical sequelae. Best of all is the format of the book which includes both formal presentations and spontaneous discussions of the issues by some of the foremost spokesmen in the field, including Robert Michels, Arthur Velenstein, Paul Ornstein, Eleanor Galenson, Merton Gill and Jacob Arlow. The reader has the opportunity to compare and contrast their different theoretical and clinical viewpoints as though he were involved in personal dialogue with the discussants. While both neophytes and seasoned analysts will profit from adding this book to their libraries, those searching for an introductory overview of contemporary analytic thought in the United States will be most rewarded. It should be noted, however, that the book's title is somewhat of a misnomer. The authors do not specifically present their different approaches to the transference according to the different forms of psychotherapy which they may be practising, nor do the authors define what they mean by psychotherapy as opposed to psychoanalysis.
In her introduction, Schwaber informs us that this book grew out of a conference on psychotherapy held for mental health professionals in New York in 1981. The conference was sponsored by the American Psychoanalytic Association. Schwaber skilfully organizes the book around a set of eight questions which were the focus of the conference. The questions invited the speakers to address the following topics: the definition of transference; the intrapsychic and interpersonal aspects of transference in the therapeutic setting; the analyst's role in the evolution and/or creation of the transference; the efficacy of differentiating the therapeutic alliance from the transference neurosis; the varieties of tra