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I had a feeling when I read the title of Herbert Schlesinger's book, The Texture of Treatment: On the Matter of Psychoanalytic Technique, that I was being invited to come very close to the analytic process. To understand the texture is to be ‘experience near’. We have to touch a fabric, to run our fingers over it, in order to know its texture. Herbert Schlesinger is Clinical Professor of Psychology at Columbia University and Supervising Analyst at Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. This book is a formalization of many years thinking about psychoanalysis, practising it, supervising candidates, and consulting with colleagues. He has developed a clear perspective on the work of analysis. In these twenty-two rather short chapters he lays out his theory of the process and, in down to earth, every day language walks us through both major issues of technique and detailed perspectives on the ‘nitty gritty’ work in the trenches of practice.
An the outset, Dr. Schlesinger situates himself in the tradition of modern ego psychology, but he has tried to stay away from traditional doctrine, discussions of other major schools, or developmental theory. He is trying to describe and speak to the experience of analytic work as it is happening. Of course, he is grounded in theory. We all have a rationale for what we do, whether conscious, implicit, or unconscious. Dr. Schlesinger views psychoanalysis as a dynamic process, shifting and changing, with issues of trans ference, counter-transference, defence, resistance, progression and regression as ever present, and he invites us to view these issues as ever in flux. He has organized these chapters in such a way as to walk us through his understanding of the psychoanalytic process. He describes major themes while grounding us in the every day experience of the work with case examples and short, clear perspectives on issues which naturally arise between patient and analyst. The chapters overlap a bit as he