New Editors’ Introduction

In 1945 Anna Freud, Heinz Hartmann, and Ernst Kris (1945) created a new professional journal titled The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. In the inaugural volume the Editors stated: “The contribution of psychoanalysis to the study of the child covers many areas. In therapy the range extends from child analysis to child guidance and group work; in theory, from the basic problems of genetic [i.e., developmental] psychology to those concerned with the interrelation of culture and the upbringing of the child” (p.9). They continued with their wish to forge relationships with related fields and to include contributions from other countries. In 2016 Paul Brinich (2016), at the time one of the Senior Editors who has since moved to the Editorial Review Board, made a personal assessment of this very first volume. He concluded with two concerns for the future: “Can child analysis maintain and continue to elaborate its central interest in the intrapsychic life of the child as we grow in our appreciation of the biological, cognitive, and social dimensions that affect the development of children? Can psychoanalysis in the twenty-first century reconnect to the reforming ideals that contributed greatly to its attractiveness in the first half of the twentieth century?” (p. 28). As the new Co-Editors-in-Chief, with this our inaugural volume, we hope to continue the tradition created by our founders then carried on by so many, including Robert King and Claudia Lament, with full awareness of the concerns Paul Brinich raised.

To that end, we have a number of challenges and hopes. The ongoing inclusion of clinical contributions is high on our list as we explore ways to continue the vital work of sharing what we do with and learn from our child and adolescent patients while also protecting their confidentiality in an age of decreasing privacy. To be a resource as a teaching tool for ourselves, our younger colleagues, and candidates within psychoanalysis as well as related fields. To conti