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In his new volume of selected papers, Fred Busch—arguably America’s leading modern ego psychologist—treats readers to a glimpse of the breadth and depth of his writings, which largely focus on clinical technique. This book contains fifteen chapters of previously published papers, most of which appeared over the last twenty years either in Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association or in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. Busch’s thinking is notably coherent, his clinical advice highly practical, and his writing remarkably clear and concise. While some might deem these qualities a sure sign of simplistic thinking, I beg to differ. In a word, Busch’s writing is accessible, which is why I routinely recommend his papers to candidates interested in learning more about the psychoanalytic method.
Those familiar with Busch’s work will recognize such themes as the value of working at the surface—within the neighborhood1 of what a patient is able to recognize as a manifestation of his own mind (Chapter 3)—and the dangers of doing otherwise, of attempting to interpret deep psychic content that lays beyond the patient’s conscious awareness. Busch believes deep interpretations run the risk of leaving patients amazed and impressed (mystified) by the analyst’s acumen yet clueless as to how he/she arrived at such a conclusion. Busch argues, if the patient cannot track the analyst’s thinking it isn’t as likely he/she will advance to the point of being able to engage in self-analysis once analysis is over.
See (1930). Civilization and its Discontents. S. E., 21.
Busch questions whether the unconscious is ever accessible, noting, “I find many of the examples of unconscious fantasies cited in the literature are more accurately described as preconscious thinking infused with unconscious elements” (p. 128, italics in original). Busch insists it is best to address preconscious content since it is more readily accessible. Attempts to address unconscious conten