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: Theory of psychoanalytic therapy. New York/London, Grune & Stratton, 1967. pp. ix + 210. $8.
These two books provide matter for reflection upon the interrelation between observation, theory and clinical understanding in psychoanalysis. One is written by a Kleinian, the other by a professor in the U.S.A., where Klein's work has so far proved largely inimical to developments in ego psychology and the accommodation of psychoanalysis to ‘scientific’ disciplines. There the concept of the autonomous or conflict-free ego introduced by Hartmann has gained ground, thus inviting the criticism of erecting a split or false self to the status of respectability and supporting the schizoid depersonalizing element in science at the expense of the individual.
The psychoanalytical process is the condensation of lectures and seminars for child psychotherapists being trained at the Tavistock Clinic, and though there is a chapter on adult treatment, those without analytic experience with children might find the whole exposition rather bewildering.
Apart from this, however, the book is difficult to grasp as a whole, partly through compression of content and partly, though less importantly, because the author repeatedly refers to technical matter ‘as yet unpublished’. He provides notes on these in an Appendix but they are not very helpful and are something of a distraction. None the less the text compels careful reading and is full of matter which is at once striking, illuminating and original.
The theoretical introduction is short, and after it Meltzer launches into often brilliant clinical elaboration of psychoanalytic processes. Not the least interesting are his ideas about how an analyst functions. He discusses the interrelation between his clinical work, reflective life, scientific productivity, writing, and his meetings with colleagues. Like an athlete, a psychoanalyst needs to be kept at the top of his form by regular exercise of interrelated activities, which keep h