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Michael Fordham, who died recently, was an international figure in the world of Jungian analysis. He was also a friend of Jung and Winnicott. He was co-editor of the collected works of Jung and the first editor of the Journal of Analytical Psychology. It was Michael Fordham's profound and persistent interest in the development of children that led to the establishment of the first Jungian child training.
Initially it was with some trepidation that this reviewer approached the collection of Michael Fordham's writing. How to respond fairly or even coherently on a subject and therapeutic orientation I knew nothing about? In the event these fears proved groundless in that the numerous and varied essays in the collection serve as an excellent and easily assimilable introduction to Jungian ideas in general and development of Fordham's thought in particular. The essays collected in this work provide an interesting reflection of the breadth of his thinking. Moreover they are written in an accessible and, at times, even chatty, discursive style.
The book is organized into three sections, covering a wide range of Fordham's interests. The first part, ‘Towards a current model’, introduces the notion that clinical practice is a fenceless field, the common ground on which all practising clinicians can meet and exchange ideas regardless of their theoretical orientation. Throughout this section one is aware of a lively, critical and independent mind at work. It was particularly interesting to read part 3 of this section, ‘The model’, where Fordham elaborates on his own ideas of development. It is here that the reader