Introduction

Though it has been nearly a year-and-a-half since our national trauma, now simply referred to as “9-11,” many of its effects seem undiminished with the passage of time. This unprecedented terrorist attack and its monumental aftermath have challenged us as clinicians both in ways and to magnitudes that would have seemed inconceivable before, and are perhaps even now, still not completely fathomable. It was therefore, an almost reflexive judgment for Guest Editor Judy Mishne and myself to devote a Special Issue of Psychoanalytic Social Work to “The Trauma of September 11th and Its Aftermath.” In the pages that follow, Dr. Mishne has assembled a remarkable anthology apropos of this theme, with contributions from clinicians, social work educators, and even a graduate social work class from New York University, very near “Ground Zero.” Although not all of the selections that follow are “psychoanalytic” in the more restrictive sense of that term, we believed that the judicious course in this instance was to err on the side of being more, rather than less, inclusive. We hope that readers will be in agreement and, as always, cordially invite reactions and comments on any facet of this Special Issue.

March 7, 2003