Jeremy D. Safran

The book, dedicated to the memory of Lewis Aron and Jeremy Safran, explores the subject of enactment in relation to boundaries in psychoanalysis, referring to a series of viewpoints that lead to many crucial areas. In her foreword, Galit Atlas writes that enactment has become a widely-employed term in contemporary psychoanalysis across schools, a term that speaks to the unique way in which the analyst is affectively pulled into and discovers himself/herself as a participant in the patient's relational matrix in ways that the analyst had not predicted and might not recognize until later. Moreover, she analyzes the concept of "generative enactment", suggesting that enactments in the analytic dyad are not only restrictive and repetitive, with therapeutic benefit resulting from their resolution, but that enactments themselves may also be generative and growth-enhancing. Giuseppe Leo, one of the editors of the book, examines the concept of enactment from the following points of view: intra-psychic, inter-psychic, intra-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary, inter-cultural, and trans- generational. Jeremy Safran's and Jessica Kraus's chapter deals with alliance ruptures, impasses, and transference-countertransference enactments which are inevitable in therapy. Since a growing body of evidence suggests that repairing ruptures in the alliance is related to positive outcome, the authors promote the development of training methods to enhance therapists' abilities to detect and work constructively with alliance ruptures and negative therapeutic process. In his chapter Jay Greenberg emphasizes how, despite the relational approach opens the possibility of tailoring technique to individual analysands, so that it is easier to negotiate the best way of working within each unique analytic dyad, many clinical vignettes in the recent literature underline the analyst's risk-taking, engaging patients in a highly personal way that breaks the traditional analytic frame. The author discusses various implications of the tendency of relational analysts to emphasize this sort of intervention, and questions raised about the way this may affect how relational thinking is received. Efrat Ginot in her chapter shows how, in spite of the seeming experiential incongruity between enactments and empathy, neuroscience has started to delineate neuropsychological processes that similarly shape and underpin both enactments and therapeutic empathy, illuminating what mechanisms they have in common. Finally, Giuseppe Riefolo, the other editor of the book, suggests that the analytic dialogue develops as a continuous movement called "Dissociative Process", and that this process is the continuous oscillation between defensive positions (repression) and creative positions. Dissociation, as a defense, is a Freudian theoretical stance, while Dissociation, as a possibility for new and creative solutions, is a theory emanating from Janet and was adopted, especially, by relational and inter-subjective psychoanalysis. The analyst has to respect the Defensive Dissociations of the patient, but, at the same time, he has to be particularly careful to support potential solutions, never made real before, that emerge as new associative aggregates deriving from the dissociation of the frustrating or traumatic experience, which he proposes calling "Creative Dissociations". The dissociative solutions (defensive and creative) are not sequential but simultaneous.

Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Therapies provides an overview of the history, practice, and ongoing developments in the field of psychoanalysis. As the original theory of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis is often presented as a starting point in psychology theory courses. Yet, many people's understanding of psychoanalysis is limited to the classic Freudian approach. Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Therapies, Second Edition provides an overview of the historical evolution of, and recent advancements in this vital group of theories and approaches to psychotherapy, that have been refined over more than a century of international work by key theorists, researchers, and clinicians. This primer to psychoanalytic approaches, including clinical strategies and case examples illustrating short- and long-term psychoanalytic treatment, is an essential resource for students and trainees interested in learning about psychoanalysis, as well as experienced clinicians seeking to refresh their knowledge. This new edition has been updated to include more contemporary perspectives on identity, diversity, and intersectionality in the context of psychoanalysis, as well as an expanded discussion of defenses, dream interpretation, recent research, and ongoing developments in the field.

A half-century of psychotherapy research has shown that the quality of the therapeutic alliance is the most robust predictor of treatment success. This unique book provides a systematic framework for negotiating ruptures and strains in the therapeutic alliance and transforming them into therapeutic breakthroughs. Cutting-edge developments in psychoanalysis and other modalities are synthesized with original research and clinical wisdom gleaned from years of work in the field. The result is a practical and highly sophisticated guide that spells out clear principles of intervention while at the same time inspiring therapists toward greater creativity.

A half-century of psychotherapy research has shown that the quality of the therapeutic alliance is the most robust predictor of treatment success. This practical, theoretically sophisticated book provides a systematic framework for negotiating ruptures in the alliance and transforming them into therapeutic breakthroughs. The book is grounded in recent developments in relational psychoanalysis, as well as findings from the authors' highly regarded research program. Chapters spell out clear principles of intervention illustrated with extensive clinical vignettes and transcript material. Particular attention is given to the therapist's inner processes and the role they play in resolving alliance ruptures. Other topics covered include the use of therapist self-disclosure and metacommunication; interactional patterns of successful therapist-patient dyads; applications to short-term treatment; and guidelines for training and supervision.

The study of psychotherapy has often been limited to the ways in which cognitive and behavioral processes promote personal change. Introducing a ground breaking perspective, Greenberg and Safran's compelling new work argues that the presently-felt experience of emotional material in therapy forms a vital underpinning in the generation of change. By including emotion as a psychotherapeutic catalyst, the book offers a more complete and encompassing approach to the process of psychotherapy than has ever before been available.EMOTION IN PSYCHOTHERAPY draws from the literature of both clinical and experimental psychology to provide a critical review of theory and research on the role of emotion in the process of change. Providing a general theoretical framework for understanding the impact of affect in therapy, this unique volume describes specific change events in which emotions enhance the achievement of therapeutic goals. Case examples and extensive transcripts vividly portray a variety of affective modes--such as completing emotional expression, accessing previously unacknowledged feelings, and restructuring emotions--and illustrate in clear, practical terms how certain processes apply to particular patient problems. Moving beyond the standard approaches to therapy, this volume offers an integrated approach that carefully considers the client's state in the session that must be amenable to intervention as well as any given intervention and its resulting changes. Its attention to both the theoretical and practical considerations of implementing a balanced psychotherapeutic approach--combining behavioral, cognitive, and affective modes--makes this an invaluable volume for practitioners and researchers of all orientations. The book will be of particular interest to clinicians seeking integrative approaches to psychotherapy, and to academic psychologists concerned with expanding the paradigm of cognitive psychology.