Editorial

This issue is a collection of papers presented at the JAP conference held in Mérida, Mexico, in March 1999. This was the third conference sponsored by the Journal and, like its two predecessors, it provided an arena for the continuing dialogue between analytical psychologists and psychoanalysts, exploring similarities and differences in both theory and practice.

The papers reflect the wide range of practice not only between analytical psychology and psychoanalysis but also within these two approaches, highlighting the increasing influence each is having on the other. Unfortunately, we have not been able to reproduce the discussions that took place during the conference but these were of a similarly high quality to the papers presented and helped to deepen our understanding of each other and of our work with patients. The spirit of inquiry and openness to different perspectives was certainly facilitated by the location of the conference in a country where analytic groups are still in their formative phase. We also could not help being inspired by the rich history surrounding us - some of the most spectacular Mayan sites, Uxmal and Chichen Itza, were only a short distance away.

We would like to thank all those who participated in this conference and to encourage our readers to join in this continuing exchange of ideas. After the success of the Mérida conference, we are planning another conference in Prague in 2001. This conference, entitled ‘Diversity and its Limits: New Directions in Analytical Psychology and Psychoanalysis’, will bring together some of the analytical psychology and psychoanalytic groups that have formed in Eastern Europe and will focus on the ways in which analysis is developing within these countries. We hope that our readers will participate in this conference and will continue to support the Journal's ventures in other parts of the world.