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The present volume aims to give readers a sample of Donald Meltzer's contributions to psychoanalysis by presenting excerpts from a selection of his writings. Meltzer conceptualized and developed original clinical theories based on his work with both children and adults with severe levels of disturbance; he demonstrated the importance of the interdependence between theory and method and how they influence each other. His many books and papers are considered seminal, particularly among child psychotherapists and post-Kleinian thinkers.
The introduction by Meg Williams, trustee and editor of the Harris Meltzer Trust, briefly summarizes aspects of Meltzer's life. Born in New York, analyzed by Melanie Klein, he was originally an adult and child training psychoanalyst at the British Psychoanalytic Society and later became an independent teacher and supervisor. Along with contributing to the development of the child psychotherapy training course at the Tavistock in London, he promoted his ideas and taught extensively in various parts of the world. The book consists of thirteen chapters, each introduced by a clinician who either worked or studied under him. It does not sustain a chronological or psychological order but instead introduces a wide variety of themes reflecting the originality of his concepts and ideas.
Chapter one, ‘Psychoanalysis as a human activity’, selected from his book The Psycho-Analytical Process , describes what he considers to be the four main qualities for the psychoanalyst to function effectively: his personal training analysis, his adherence to the method of psychoanalysis, sharing of analytic work and thinking through conferences and seminars, and last but not least his enthusiasm and readiness for analytic work. The analyst needs to be in touch with his own instinctual drive in order to be able to empathize with his patients and also possess a method that includes an artistic and scientific savoir-faire in the form of technique and attitude. Theref