The appearance of this new journal is an appropriate occasion for asserting the unique and enduring value of clinical psychoanalysis, both as a scientific and therapeutic endeavor. Although statistics tell us that in the United States the practice of clinical psychoanalysis has become more problematic, we believe this trend is reversible. We intend, through this journal, to assist in that reversal and to contribute to a new and more solid foundation for psychoanalysis.

The Journal will undertake to meet a universally felt need for greater access to clinical data. It will do so by providing the reader with case studies in a breadth and depth hitherto unavailable. We are quite aware of the difficulties in accurately conveying in a readable way information from the consulting room but we will approach this as an experimental challenge. Our format for presenting data, therefore, will be open to revision as improved methods of clinical discourse develop. The Journal will endeavor over time to build a clinical data base for use by all students of psychoanalysis.