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Arnold Modell has been writing at the frontiers of psychoanalytic theory and technique for more than two decades. His interests have extended to the more difficult clinical issues with special emphasis on the 'holding' environment, resistances to establishing a usable setting, and the schizoid defences, especially the withholding of affects. In his current book he brings all of his previous efforts together to attempt his most comprehensive examination of the role of analytic setting and relationship in the curative process.
Modell succeeds in addressing this complex subject, and the many questions and paradoxes it raises about reality and illusion, in a most stimulating fashion. He is not, however, simply concerned with posing philosophical dilemmas as they pertain to the major components of the analysis such as the setting, the therapeutic alliance, and the resistances. He is dedicated to re-examining and studying in depth the role of the setting as it facilitates the complex process of therapeutic action.
In the second chapter, the author conveys his own