Editorial

In this issue, four original papers are presented, one written by an American psychoanalyst, and three by Scandinavian psychoanalysts. Three of the articles touch on themes outside the psychoanalytic situation and bear witness to the diverse application of psychoanalysis.

Hans Reiland opens the issue with the paper The object beyond objects and the sacred, in which he refl ects on Freud's and Winnicott's contributions to the psychology of religion and the basis for the individual's faith in God. Leonard Shengold follows with the article “The promise”in patients and in Ibsen's “A doll's House”. He introduces the concept of “the promise” to cover the narcissistic expectation of being made happy and rescued from difficulties, and illustrates his point by a female patient's and two of Ibsen's heroines' reactions to the non-fulfilment of the “promise”. The third article is The myth of Medea from the point of view of psychoanalysis, written by Riita Sirola. In this paper, the myth is viewed as similar to a dream and the myth of Medea is interpreted in the light of a girl's normal development as it takes place in a two-person relationship before three-dimensionality is reached. The last paper by Lena Klockars, Linking minds, body and language:free association revisited, centres on the key psychoanalytic concept of “the unconscious” and how unconscious experiences are given verbal form with the help of free association. The relationship between free association and memory, neuropsychoanalysis and semiotics is discussed. The section Reports and Brief Communications contains three papers by Lars Sjögren, Jurgen Reeder and Judy Gammelgaard, respectively. All three papers have originally been presented at psychoanalytic conferences/symposia.

Since the publication of the last issue, Lena Teurnell has left the board. She has been replaced by Jurgen Reeder who is hereby warmly welcomed. He has been the new member of the board, representing the Swedish Psychoanalytical Association si