Psychoanalytic Psychology: An Argument for Change in Editorial Policy

In an Editorial Note (Psychoanalytic Psychology, 1989) the Editorial Board of Psychoanalytic Psychology invites comment on its proposal for an occasional section devoted to reports of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. This modification in editorial policy is welcome though it seems a very small advance in the direction of much needed change.

I believe that psychoanalytic psychology is best served by the exploration of its concepts from the broadest possible range of perspectives. It is in the lively interplay of ideas from various sources that concepts and practices are expanded and refined. Valuable heterogeneity in orientation may be stimulated by the differences in interest and training particular to various professions and disciplines interested in psychoanalysis. They may arise in clinical work of greater and less intensity, with adults and children, and in work with the various problems encountered in psychosis, delinquency, neurological impairment and so forth. They may emerge in theoretical explorations of relationships between psychoanalytic and other theories addressing the same phenomena and in empirical studies.

Such a belief argues for an editorial policy that enhances possibilities for interchange in every way possible. It invites a broad definition of psychoanalysis rather than one so restrictive that even psychoanalytic psychotherapy is relegated to the periphery. It suggests welcoming psychoanalytically informed empirical studies. It urges that articles from disciplines other than psychology be considered on an equal footing with those from psychologists.