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In this article, the editors introduce Issue No. 3 with a statement of their belief that psychological development is a lifelong process, distinctly contrasting that with
the view of adulthood as an endpoint of earlier developmental phases that culminate in adolescence. This view of development, of course, influences their ideas about analytic process. Those who feel that psychological development is lifelong emphasize the importance of the relationship with the analyst as a potential real new object. Those who do not, emphasize the interpretative function. A developmental perspective is not limited to one theoretical orientation but finds support from many areas, including child analysis, separation-individuation theory, self psychology, and object relations theory. The authors give examples in each area. This developmental perspective can influence the analyst's decisions about who can be analyzed. By recognizing the need for "new-object functions" in certain patients over and above the structural changes brought about by interpretation of transference relationships and responding to them, the authors feel they can make many seemingly unanalyzable patients more amenable to the analytic procedure.