You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
In The Interpersonal Tradition: The Origins of Psychoanalytic Subjectivity, Irwin Hirsch provides a lucid overview of his thinking concerning the evolution of the interpersonal tradition and its relevance for contemporary psychoanalysis. Over the past several decades, Hirsch has been a prolific author and committed proponent of the interpersonal perspective. His current book includes a selection of his papers written over a 30-year span ( to ), and each chapter is introduced by a brief prologue that places the paper within the context of his current thinking. Hirsch argues, throughout the book, that the interpersonal psychoanalytic tradition, more than any other, has contributed to contemporary psychoanalytic theory and practice.
Hirsch asserts that many current ideas, including heightened interest in the analyst's subjectivity, the emphasis on mutual influence in the analytic dyad, and the concept of enactment, stem largely from interpersonal contributions to the literature. He writes:
That the contemporary psychoanalyst must now attempt to be aware of more than the patient per se, that attention to the psyche of the analyst and to the mutual influences in treatment now carry equivalent weight, is due in largest part to the early and ongoing interpersonal contributions to our literature. [p. 2, italics in original]
Moreover, Hirsch contends that these contributions from the interpersonal tradition have not been sufficiently acknowledged by other psychoanalytic schools of thought. In an effort to redress this situation, he outlines what he believes constitute the bases of contemporary psychoanalytic practice and tries to demonstrate that interpersonal thinkers were the first to develop these ways of working. This overarching aim is at the heart of the book's message and colors the presentation of the material, particularly in the introduction and chapter prologues.
As the book's title suggests, Hirsch devotes considerable attention to the idea that the analyst is a subj