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A quotation from Rilke's “Duino Elegies” which precedes Giuffrida's vivacious introduction to this book seems to hint at the atmosphere which characterized the group effort in working at this collection of essays: a spirit of tolerance seems to prevail, in a situation which does not present certainties, where what was lost or which seemed lost may reappear transformed and be subjected to further transformation. This situation can allow for the existence of a void which enables thought to follow other paths than those already trodden. In my opinion Sollini, who is the group leader, has favoured this atmosphere, having taken onto himself the role of container and of “memory” of the common efforts. There seems to have been room for the “negative” of the analytic situation, or at least for a part of it, for those thoughts which are still ill-defined, for that which does not usually find expression, for temporary transgressions. Rivalry, confrontation, clashes of opinion, exchanges - - these are all elements present within the group. Giuffrida writes: “each of us will return to his den (…) taking back with him something very precious ‘stolen’ from the others (…) (something) to keep for oneself, to hide from the indiscreet eyes of the world”. But, also, tolerance towards differences and humility are present. The group does not set itself up as owning either a better theory or a superior method and it does not have a unitary point of view; it cannot be defined or recognized in terms of uniformity. It expresses itself, I think, only in terms of intellectual honesty. However, the group's research focuses on certain central themes. The book's merit stems from an authentic spirit of research; each author has been genuinely involved in the experience.
The introduction informs us that the research effort was initiated “with the intent of examining the question of countertransference”; from this starting point it developed into an effort to articulate the concepts of the analytic