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Dr. Lichtenberg has concocted an enlightening and sometimes daring brew, a potpourri of ingredients which begins with the eye-opening findings of the “new” infant research and, after a tour through a dozen topics, arrives at a wide-ranging discussion of analytic interpretation and cure. Along the way he discusses a dizzying range of subjects — drive theory, affect theory, the origin and nature of imagery and symbolism, the self, primary and secondary process, empathy, meaning, insight, theories of learning, and programs of interpretation — to name a few. He includes a great deal of straightforward information drawn from infant-toddler studies, information which is required reading for anyone with curiosity about the genesis of human psychological functioning. He weaves this information into a series of challenging, provocative ideas, suggestions, hypotheses, and opinions.
All of which is most enjoyable: the findings of infant research are a never-ending source of amazement at, and admiration for, the incredible adaptability of infants and equal admiration for the ingenuity of the researchers.
The book provides few, if any, settled conclusions aside from renewed proof of the complexity and wonder of human psychology. There is no grand synthesis of infant research and psychoanalysis, and none is intended. In contrast to the many areas of mutual interest, the list of direct contributions of infant research to adult psychoanalysis (p. 213, final paragraph) is short and, for some, will be