WE ARE PLEASED TO PRESENT to Psychoanalytic Inquiry readers this issue on Touch in the Psychoanalytic Situation. Using as a focal point for discussion Patrick Casement's seminal paper, “Some Pressures on the Analyst for Physical Contact During the Reliving of an Early Trauma,” published in 1982, our contributors have considered explored this controversial question from many divergent contemporary perspectives.

We would contend that all mental health practitioners have been required to struggle with this concern at one time or another during their careers, making these contributions clinically valuable.

We want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all of our contributors, but especially to Patrick Casement who first pioneered an open exploration of this question and who continues to lead the way in his retrospective commentary on his own work and the other papers contained in this issue.