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The ten papers here are roughly divided between preponderantly metapsychological discussion of the Janus pair and their consideration as powerful agents in analytic practice. In the absence of the summaries customary in our Journal, Pignatelli's brief
account of each author's approach in his editorial note is most valuable. His own paper deals mainly with frustration, how it borders on feelings of impotence, the difficulties it presents for analyst and patient which he clarifies with vivid material, and the danger of the analyst taking defensive refuge in playing the demiurge.
Carotenuto's ‘The unconscious and the dignity of man’ attacks rigid adherence to theory, urges at length that the patient be treated above all as a human being whose suffering is real and for whom dependence represents great oral frustration, and concludes that frustration does not really exist as a problem in analysis since the relationship can always be restored by analytic gratification. Faraci, in a striking paper with clinical examples, maintains that the only real frustration is gratification of the infant at the expense of the would-be adult, and shows how the analyst—while keeping an active but neutral attitude—can make positive use of what he terms ‘value-making (valorizzante) tension’. How he resolved his dilemma is neatly illustrated by Aite when he found himself torn between an impulse to gratify a patient's request for an extra session and an uncomfortable feeling that a ‘serious’ analyst would not concede this exception to their agreed pattern.
Feminine solidarity is Gambino's theme; the problem posed when both patient and analyst are women, and she cites a case where it caused her to fall into a ‘gratification’ trap. Lo Cascio concentrates on his experience and use of his transference and countertransference and frustration and gratification as he oscillates between identification with and distancing from the patient within an orthodox benign temenos. Maffei, employing Lacanian