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Psychoanalysis, as a field of scientific endeavor, often finds itself caught in a semantic paradox, namely, that the strongest and most meaningful core concepts with which it operates are subject to a degree of ambiguity and variation in connotation and application that makes definition precarious and consistency heroic. The concept of the transference neurosis is one such candidate. There are many others, but the notions of transference and transference neurosis are as central and close to the essence of analysis as any. Reed enters this thicket, armed with a comprehensive grasp of analytic theory and a solid background of clinical experience. Throughout she demonstrates her skill in dealing with clinical material and in casting its vagaries in meaningful theoretical terms.
The enterprise is daunting and her methodology tantalizing. Working from the well-known starting point provided by Freud, she engages the material derived from a series of relatively informal interviews with 21 analytic colleagues from a wide range of analytic experience, all of whom have based their work on Freudian concepts and utilized a basic conflict model. The respondents were chosen on the basis of their reputation as good clinicians and for their contributions to the analytic literature. To judge by the material reported from the interviews, the caliber of her respondents is high indeed. They convey an impression of a group of intelligent, thoughtful, serious, and skilled clinicians operating at a high level of theoretical sophistication and clinical competence. The material from the interviews is complemented by Reed's use of her own clinical experience to clarify issues, raise further questions, or support points of the argument. The level of sophistication is well maintained throughout.