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William Meissner, S.J., M.D., is University Professor of Psychoanalysis at Boston College and a well-known and highly respected training and supervising analyst from the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. In this volume he has produced much more than a text on the therapeutic alliance; he has actually written an introductory textbook to the clinical practice of psychoanalysis. In my judgment, this book needs to be reflected on by every practicing psychoanalyst, even though he or she may not be in agreement with Meissner's point of view.
As it is among the commentators on Nietzsche, similarly in the psychoanalytic literature there are “lumpers” and “splitters,” and Meissner is definitively a “splitter.” He attempts to draw a careful distinction between “the therapeutic alliance,” “the real relationship,” and “transference and countertransference issues.” In contrast to this, the “lumpers” would argue that all of these are inextricably connected together and continuously influence each other, so they cannot be discussed separately.
Meissner's text is very carefully organized, quite thorough, and technical. He has a scholastic style of writing that has caused other reviewers of this book to suggest it be used as a reference and dipped into in parts and occasionally, rather than read all the way through. I believe this is a misleading artifact of his style, however, and actually this outstanding work deserves prolonged and protracted study, requiring the reader to rise above Meissner's habit of citing innumerable references. Indeed, his inclination to follow almost every second or third sentence with a reference (and sometimes several references) has two deleterious effects. The first of these is that it breaks up the flow of Meissner's excellent material, and the second is that at times it is not clear whether Meissner is describing or quoting someone else's position or expressing his own views. It would be better in future editions to add these references at the end of ea