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More women are entering the field of psychoanalysis and postponing parenthood until after they have completed their training and begun to establish themselves in their careers. As they turn to the literature for help in understanding the impact of pregnancy and motherhood upon their work as psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, they find a dearth of scholarly attention to the subject. Fenster, Phillips & Rapoport begin to address this lack with their book.
The authors call upon the findings of Fenster's study of pregnant psychotherapists as well as clinical and personal experiences from their own first pregnancies. It is important to note that they define psychoanalysis as the analysis of transference and resistance, which they believe can take place under a wide variety of conditions. Consequently, most of the patients discussed were in treatment once or twice a week. Although I believe this led to a paucity of in-depth clinical data in the book, I do feel that the issues the authors raise are highly relevant to the pregnant analyst in her work.
After a thorough discussion of the literature on this and related topics (such as illness in the analyst), the authors discuss Fenster's study. She interviewed 22 therapists (psychologists, social workers and psychiatrists) during their first pregnancy and again within six months of the birth. She found that the pregnancy stimulated an increased intensity of reactions to the therapist; that borderline patients noticed the pregnancy earliest and reacted the most intensely; and that male patients were more likely to suppress their responses.
The authors divide the rest of the book into discussions of the impact of the pregnancy on different aspects of the analytic space, e.g. on transference, countertransference, on technique, on the supervisory relationship, as well as some consideration of the impact on special categories of patients. Unfortunately the authors' writing style, plus the lack of detailed case studies, led