The Emerging Tradition of Hans Loewald

"This book shows why so many people see Hans Loewald as the unmatched innovator in Freudian psychoanalysis and the most profound extender of its possibilities. Loewald brings out a whole new dimension of the Freudian mind. If you are disappointed that the Freudian discovery seems to miss the hopeful vibrance of human life, you will be amazed to see what Loewald draws from the tradition.

If you're a clinician whose old terms seem a little stiff and mechanical, your professional adventure will be refreshed when you see those terms spring to life. Loewald worked quietly without proselytizing, but his writing and teaching have kindled wide enthusiasm, and a Hans W. Loewald Center has formed, where scholars and practitioners will explore applications of Loewald's outlook to the nature of mind and mankind, the workings of treatment and the wider use of theory.

Experts here discuss the mental blending of past, present, and future. His application to interdisciplinary areas such as sociology, anthropology or feminism are profound. There are comparisons of his relationship to theorists such as Laplanche and the Italian Field Theorists. Other topics include Loewald's theory of language, his reflections on religion, on the arts and culture.

Despite his courageous independence, Loewald was the most self-effacing of pioneers, and the editors anticipate our personal curiosity by including something of what it was like to be treated or supervised by Loewald as a clinician. To get a fuller sense of Loewald as a person, we hear from his family as well.

This book, and its companion, The Legacy and Promise of Hans Loewald, are a treasure trove for Loewaldians, and a prospectus for those who have wondered what all the fuss is about. It announces a new era of innovation that might, indeed, go far to secure a future for psychoanalysis."

Lawrence Friedman, MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Weill-Cornell University College of Medicine; Psychoanalytic Association of New York

"Loewald writes poetically: 'We would say that the patient instead of having a past, is his past. He does not distinguish himself as a rememberer from the content of his memory.'

This wonderful book conveys how the language of Loewald speaks to us profoundly, enlightens us, helps us clinically and theoretically, and conveys also that psychoanalysis may be approached in many different ways. Loewald has engaged Freud in such a complex fashion that we too become deeply involved with his investigation. I believe that everyone in the psychoanalytic field is looking towards the future, can benefit from this exciting, new encounter with Loewald."

Haydee Faimberg, MD, Training and Supervising Analyst, Paris Psychoanalytical Society (SPP); author of The Telescoping of Generations (2005); winner of the Sigourney Award for Oustanding Achievement (2013)