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The brevity of this volume (128 pages) may at first deceive the reader into thinking its contents are as light as its bulk, but do not judge a book by its thickness! Laura Elliot Rubinstein has packed a great deal of
important information about psychoanalytic supervision into these few pages, and she offers us a refreshing variety of perspectives. Rather than simply summarizing the analysts' views on the issues discussed, she has devised a set of ten sagacious, very practical, and highly relevant questions, and the answers to these allow readers to compare the participants' wide-ranging perspectives.
Rubinstein interviewed a group of ten carefully selected analysts of proven reputation and experience, together representing several geographical regions. As we read between the lines, it is not difficult to hear the echoes and influences of their psychoanalytic origins. Fortunately, Rubinstein does not restrict herself to the topic of supervision in a narrow and limiting way, and includes many related questions about significant problems that trouble our contemporary candidates. This slim volume addresses so many different areas in psychoanalysis that it could easily be called Around the Analytic World in One Hundred Questions. Each issue addressed deserves serious thought and discussion.
In reading the responses of these participants to some of the many divergent ideas put forward in psychoanalysis today, and in seeing the emphasis each respondent places on similarities or differences in the application of analytic principles, one begins to see how the consideration of these ideas can contribute to a useful dialogue within the psychoanalytic community—or to divisiveness and alienation.
In his introduction, Daniel Jacobs points out the meager training offered to supervisors in most institutes, and comments on how often we equate (though rarely verbalize) being a good clinician with being a good supervisor. I think this is a residue of the very early days of psychoanalyt