Editors' Introduction

The Journal of Clinical Psychoanalysis is pleased to present an issue devoted to the topic of female psychology. Recent years have seen great progress in this area of psychoanalytic investigation. At the same time contemporary political and social ideologies have threatened to dominate the discussion at the expense of clinical investigation. The contents of this issue should serve to redress the balance.

In recent years the New York Psychoanalytic Institute has initiated a separate course on “Female Psychosexual Development.” We begin this issue with Dr. Ronda Shaw's presentation to the faculty in which she argued for establishment of such a course. The syllabus and reading list follow. The course has been a very successful educational effort, and we offer it as a pedagogical model.

Dr. Shaw, in her presentation, identified a variety of problematic topics in the field of psychoanalytic female psychology (pp. 270-271). In this issue we offer contributions in several of these problem areas. In the controversial areas of penis envy, oedipal progression, and the negative oedipal complex Drs. Ruth Lax and Maria Bergmann contribute two thoughtful papers. In the area of analytic versus social issues, which runs as a leitmotiv throughout Dr. Shaw's course, we welcome the contribution of Dr. Mary Lamia on the possible defensive uses of feminism. Dr. Shaw, in her paper on female genital anxieties, provides a thoughtful review of this topic, with a focus on the contribution of anal-phase conflicts. Our colleague in Madrid, Dr. Emilce Dio Bleichmar, reminds us of the paternal contribution to female development. We offer two fascinating case studies, by Dr. Wendy Olesker, reviewing and illustrating problems of female homosexuality, and by Dr. Marjorie Adelson, in the area of pregnancy and motherhood.

All of these papers are rooted in close clinical observation, an emphasis we intend to continue in future issues devoted to this challenging topic.