Bernard Brandchaft

Best known for his contributions to the development of contemporary intersubjectivity theory, Bernard Brandchaft has dedicated a career to the advancement of psychoanalytic theory and practice. Continually searching for a theoretical viewpoint that would satisfactorily explain the clinical phenomena he was encountering, his curiosity eventually led him to the work of Heinz Kohut and the then-emerging school of self psychology. However, seemingly always one step ahead of the crowd, Brandchaft constantly reformulated his ideas about and investigations into the intersubjective nature of human experiences.Many of the chapters in this volume have never before been published. Together, they articulate the evolution of Brandchaft's thinking along the road toward an emancipatory psychoanalysis. Moreover, commentary from Shelley Doctors and Dorienne Sorter – in addition to Bernard Brandchaft himself – examines the clinical implications of the theoretical shifts that he advocated and provides a contemporary context for the case material and conclusions each paper presents. These theoretical shifts, both clear and subtle, are thereby elucidated to form the grand narrative of a truly visionary psychoanalytic thinker.

Best known for his contributions to the development of contemporary intersubjectivity theory, Bernard Brandchaft has dedicated a career to the advancement of psychoanalytic theory and practice. Continually searching for a theoretical viewpoint that would satisfactorily explain the clinical phenomena he was encountering, his curiosity eventually led him to the work of Heinz Kohut and the then-emerging school of self psychology. However, seemingly always one step ahead of the crowd, Brandchaft constantly reformulated his ideas about and investigations into the intersubjective nature of human experiences.Many of the chapters in this volume have never before been published. Together, they articulate the evolution of Brandchaft's thinking along the road toward an emancipatory psychoanalysis. Moreover, commentary from Shelley Doctors and Dorienne Sorter – in addition to Bernard Brandchaft himself – examines the clinical implications of the theoretical shifts that he advocated and provides a contemporary context for the case material and conclusions each paper presents. These theoretical shifts, both clear and subtle, are thereby elucidated to form the grand narrative of a truly visionary psychoanalytic thinker.

Psychoanalytic Treatment: An Intersubjective Approach fleshes out the implications for psychoanalytic understanding and treatment of adopting a consistently intersubjective perspective. In the course of the study, the intersubjective viewpoint is demonstrated to illuminate a wide array of clinical phenomena, including transference and resistance, conflict formation, therapeutic action, affective and self development, and borderline and psychotic states. As a consequence, the authors demonstrate that an intersubjective approach greatly facilitates empathic access to the patient's subjective world and, in the same measure, greatly enhances the scope and therapeutic effectiveness of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Treatment is another step in the ongoing development of intersubjectivity theory, as born out in Structures of Subjectivity (1984), Contexts of Being (1992), and Working Intersubjectively (1997), all published by the Analytic Press