Psychoanalysis and Family Systems

The 20th Century has seen not only the emergence of the psychoanalyst, but also the explosive growth of knowledge, of technology, of communication, and travel. It has witnessed the development of atomic energy with the attendant anxiety of possible world destruction, and it has marked the incredible start of a population growth which threatens our every social institution.

The theories from which psychoanalysis took its beginnings were revised through the years by Freud, and, like all theories which retain vitality and relevancy, they continue to be revised and expanded. Some principles and hypotheses, however, have stood over the decades, and continue to guide us in our daily clinical work.

One of these is the hypothesis that human behavior is influenced by processes of which we are not aware. A corollary to this is that the development of conscious awareness can lead to greater freedom of choice for the individual. Another durable psychoanalytic principle has been a dedication to respect for the individual and a commitment to the promotion of his freedom and growth.

Although these principles and goals are still basic to psychoanalysis, new scientific concepts, and actual changes in the real world since the turn of the century, challenge analysts to develop a new awareness of themselves and their patients in the changing contexts of their lives.

Through the ages in attempts to explain human events and human behavior, man has assigned cause to luck, to fate, to nature, to the gods, to sin, and to the baser instincts of mankind itself. The growth of a theory of human psychodynamics was a breakthrough in human knowledge. The theories and investigative methods produced new understandings, and each new understanding brought the potential of new therapeutic progress. The idea that our actual living experience profoundly influences the development of our concepts, and these, in turn, affect our later