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Early in the history of psychoanalysis, it was thought that analysts should be completely analyzed, serving as a blank screen for the projections of their patients. Today, we increasingly focus on the analytic couple. Countertransference is seen as a source of information about processes within the patient rather than only as an unanalyzed bit of the analyst. With this change in emphasis comes an increased sensitivity as to what the patient's impact might be on the therapist.
It was exciting to read a book where 399 respondents to a survey share a point of view of psychoanalysis as an interactional process and also a belief that a potential outcome of analytic work with patients can be a positive psychological change for the analyst. Even more rewarding is the book's focus on the close space between the therapist and patient and the analyst's process of self exploration, growth and learning, much in the spirit of Winnicott's dedication in Playing and Reality, “To my patients who have paid to teach me.”
The heart of this book consists of written clinical material submitted for the study and further material derived from 26 in-depth phone interviews. The population is made up of both male and female analysts, a good proportion of whom were training and supervising analysts, ranging in age from 40 to 70 years old.
Through Judy Kantrowitz's enlightened organization of this dense, richly laden clinical material we are able to focus on specific interactions. The chapter headings themselves are enticing and illuminating. For example,