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Barbara Pizer and I have been mutually respectful colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis for over 30 years. I have come to know her as professional neighbors come to know each other: through our shared committee work; our joint participation in general institute life; and, of course, via the through-the-grapevine sharing of fellow members, candidates, and friends. Pizer is known to be a passionate and generous relational supervisor and analyst. We have never had a formal relationship with each other, but my general sense has always been quite positive.
To be honest, though, she’s always been a bit of a mystery to me—mysterious in the way that one can wonder about how a person becomes the person they have become. So to be offered a chance to review her book—not just to read it, but to carefully digest it—was a compelling opportunity. I wanted to learn more about Pizer, while acknowledging her contributions to psychoanalysis.
In accepting the invitation to review Body Words and the Analyst’s Use of Self: Transforming the Unspeakable in Clinical Process (Pizer, 2024), I soon found myself engaged with a collection of articles spanning the 50-year work life of a practicing psychoanalyst and psychologist. The primary focus of this task became not only about judging this book on its own merits but, in a certain sense, about reviewing a life. How could I possibly do justice to this rather daunting and humbling task? I am most grateful to have accepted this challenge. I found this assignment, this immersion in the life and mind and heart of a fellow colleague, to be personally and professionally rewarding. Although it
Address correspondence to Elizabeth Corpt, MSW, LICSW, 226 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA 02474. E-mail:
would be impossible to capture the full complexity of the entirety of this gathering of Pizer’s work, I will do my best to introduce some of its content and the driving force behind it.
Pizer’s book is a rich and