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This is undoubtedly one of the most important Jungian contributions to the growing literature which seeks to explore the many ways in which insights from neuroscience can enrich our understanding of clinical practice. Throughout the book, the importance of the memory in the analytic process is emphasized and explicated; not only the memories of the patient but also the vital contribution of the memory of the therapist. Ekstrom tends to use the terms ‘psychotherapy’ and ‘psychoanalysis’ interchangeably. He conducts an exhaustive review of research into memory processes and its relevance for the consulting room. His approach is grounded in cognitive neuroscience rather than the neurobiology of emotion or attachment.
Ekstrom, in the first section of his book, called ‘Applying the findings in research’, begins by exploring why research on memory is critical to the practice of psychotherapy. He moves on to discuss the nature of subjectivity and the significance of episodic memory for an understanding of this. He then turns to autobiographical memory and the value of adequate understanding of it for the construction of the individual's history and sense of self. The first part of the book is completed by an exploration of three aspects of the clinical endeavour: the development of narrative, dreams as a form of narrative, and metaphors and the meaning-making process. While readers will be aware that much of this section of the book has been explored before by other writers, nevertheless Ekstrom reviews the research literature on memory in a way that clarifies its relevance to clinical practice.
It is in the second section of the book, entitled ‘Remembering, reporting and teaching’, that Ekstrom really breaks new ground. Here his focus is on the