Introduction

This introduction has as its point of departure the rich, complex, and controversial history of psychoanalysis and in particular the continuing evolution of psychoanalytic self psychology. The previous 19 volumes of Progress in Self Psychology embody much of this history. Controversial partly because Heinz Kohut had the courage to be himself in challenging the doctrinaire traditional drive/structure models so prevalent in the first half of the twentieth century. Controversial because many of his ideas threatened his colleagues' sense of what they felt to be subjectively true and real. And controversial because ideas, once spoken or written, are subject(ed) to interpretation. As we witness the strong presence of creative theorizing within the pages of past volumes of Progress in Self Psychology, we are treated also to a great deal of argument—argument mostly born out of a passion for ideas and for transformative dialogue.

A continuing series of revolutions within a revolution, contemporary psychoanalytic self psychology has great theoretical breadth. I was reminded of this as I read and reread the evocative contributions that comprise this recent offering, the twentieth volume of Progress. In these pages, we witness not just the elaboration and, at times, the syncretism of several essential themes, such as enactment, trauma, multiculturalism, countertransference, relationality, shame, contextualism, and listening perspectives, but also the human struggles that bring these themes to life in the context of working with patients under challenging circumstances. We witness the rich pluralism in psychoanalysis that enlivens as well as perplexes. But in addition, this theoretical breadth now encompasses ideas about emotional experience, human development, and therapeutic action not originally accessible to traditional self psychology, ideas informed by the