Introduction to the Special Issue

It is with great pleasure that in its inaugural year, the Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy has the opportunity of presenting to our readers this special issue that constitutes the proceedings of the conference entitled “The Evolution and Dissolution of the Self.” A topic of such theoretical complexity might appear to some as an unlikely one for a new journal whose mission is the furthering of discourse about the therapeutic process with infants, children, and adolescents. Yet those of us working clinically with patients of all ages cannot help but be aware of the extent to which the multifaceted, somewhat elusive construct of self has over the past several decades become central to our thinking about healthy and atypical personality development across the life span.

This timely conference, sponsored by the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, is noteworthy for several reasons. First, it must be recognized that the conference participants, child and adult psychoanalysts and developmental researchers, are among the foremost thinkers of this generation. The responses of these participants to specific questions assist the reader in understanding the ways in which the participants define the construct of self, understand the development and functions of this complex construct, and conceptualize disorders of the self.

Second, the emphasis upon dialogue between psychoanalytic clinicians from different theoretical perspectives with researchers in developmental psychology is emblematic of a trend within psychoanalytic circles that is particularly welcomed by clinicians who work with young persons. Increasingly, psychoanalysts and empirical researchers are becoming engaged in collaborative endeavors, and oftentimes it is their common interest in developmental understanding that is fostering an expansion of knowledge and a reconceptualization of theory across disciplines. The participants in this conference help us gain an awareness of the cu