Personal Reflections: Fifty Years of Psychoanalysis

In this article I review developments in psychoanalytic theory and practice over the past fifty or so years. Of course, I will present these developments from my own experience and my own perspective, demonstrating my involvement with American psychoanalysis as it evolved, beginning with ego psychology, and then moving to the theories of Melanie Klein, object relations (both British and American), self psychology, intersubjectivity, and the relational theories. My focus is on the special significance of self psychology in the theoretical evolution I experienced, and I will offer some ideas about the angry character of the debates that surrounded these developments. The role of the psychoanalytic organizations in Southern California will be highlighted as exemplifying nationwide trends in the field. I attempt to give this history chronologically and as concisely as possible, interspersing some important events in slightly greater detail.

I applied for psychoanalytic training at the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (LAPSI) in the fall of 1949. Only physicians could apply, and there were many applicants. Psychoanalysis was popular, and physicians who had served in the Second World War were applying, as well as many recent graduates of medical school, such as myself. Less than one-half were accepted. I was accepted in February 1950, and less than one month later I was told that the Institute had split and asked which one was I going to be in. Welcome to the world of psychoanalysis!