Modern Psychoanalysis of the Schizophrenic Patient: Theory of the Technique. Second Edition. Hyman Spotnitz. New York:  Human Sciences Press, 1985.  245 pp.

Here at last is the definitive revision of a work that has served as a basic text for practitioners and students of Modern Psychoanalysis since 1969. The concepts are greatly enriched by examples and additions which flesh out the first edition. On second reading it is rewarding to find that Spotnitz' original insights have held up over the intervening years of clinical practice. And, parenthetically, it should be noted that these clinical discoveries are just now beginning to find their way into the literature of the larger psychoanalytic community.

Since many of the questions about modern analysis center on the role of aggression in ego formation, it was satisfying to find that Spotnitz has fully described those resistances that develop when hatred cannot be tolerated. Spotnitz provides new insights into the economic model so spartanly presented in chapter four of the first edition, particularly when he clarifies the relationship between impulses (experienced as wishes), action, and the schizophrenic's fight against wish arousal. In this context an explanation is given of the failure of traditional analysis with the narcissistic disorders.

Several basic concepts that were misunderstood after the first printing are explained more fully in this edition, especially maturational communication and the use of the patient's contact function. The author explains how the emotions experienced in schizophrenic states are related to the first object field of the mind.

While no significant changes are introduced in treatment concepts, concrete issues such as beginning treatment, the contract, frequency, goals and outcomes, the meaning of time, and types of