You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Do we need a concept of play as a discrete event in psychoanalysis? Steven Cooper believes we do. And in Playing and Becoming in Psychoanalysis (2022), he repeatedly cites a small group of analysts in support of his central claim that a greater capacity to play is what best describes a good outcome, or what is attempted at least, in psychoanalytic treatment. Cooper states simply “play is the thing in analytic work” (126). However, I was not necessarily convinced by the book that this is the case. Yet, I nonetheless found the chapters invariably engaging.
The book comprises several (mostly) previously published papers which consider “essential questions about psychoanalysis” (7) from the point of view of play, including the following: transference–countertransference; the setting; enactment; interpretation; fantasy; illusion; dreaming; symbolization; object use; absence; aliveness; mourning; and ethics. Most importantly, the clinical aspect remains to the fore throughout. I found this the most impressive feature of the book – namely, the extent to which Cooper’s focus on the importance of play to the psychoanalytic process is supported, in most chapters, by illustrative cases.
Furthermore, the case material consistently underlines Cooper’s emphasis on interaction and relational contact, although as already mentioned, I was not always convinced that the case vignettes illustrated the phenomenon of play. For me this was particularly evident in the chapter on “the paradox of play in mourning”. Despite the estimable description of Rachael’s grieving the loss of her fantasy of an unavailable father, or Julie’s mourning her melancholic identification with her parents – neither case offered me a better understanding of how “playing serves to help patients move toward grieving internal objects” (99). I think the collection would benefit from a clear and consistent definition of play.