A New Freudian Synthesis

'This is truly a landmark volume. This illuminating collection of papers by an outstanding group of psychoanalysts demonstrates the innovative ways in which modern Freudian analysts have synthesized and adapted not only Freud's fundamental contributions, but also those of creative analysts from a number of traditions, to develop new and therapeutically effective treatment approaches. This important book fills a fundamental need in the field of analytic therapy and should be essential reading for therapists of all persuasions who wish to understand and make use of the invaluable work that is being done today by modern Freudian analysts.'- Theodore J. Jacobs, MD, New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and The Psychoanalytic Association of New York 'Freudian psychoanalysis is too often unfairly bashed as old-fashioned or out of date, rigid, authoritarian, and doctrinaire. It is time that a book came along that presented an accurate, current presentation of the discipline. A New Freudian Synthesis is far more than just another edited collection. The editors have indeed achieved a synthesis - a new and complex whole. This book presents the theory and clinical practice (with lively well-told clinical tales) of contemporary Freudian psychoanalysis, and while respectfully highlighting similarities, it also differentiates this approach from both the more conservative models of drive and conflict as well as from more radical approaches of relational psychoanalysis. The contemporary Freudian approach emphasizes the development of psychic structure through the synergy of insight and relational factors. Call it modern or contemporary Freudian theory, modern structural theory, self and object Freudians, or relational-Freudian psychoanalysis - this book is the essential text to clarify the present state of the field. I have already learned a great deal from it and will undoubtedly refer to it again and again.'- Lewis Aron, PhD, is director, New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis'From out of the contentious battlefield of analytic pluralism, clear voices increasingly emerge defining diverse approaches to psychoanalytic understanding. The authors of this valuable new contribution incisively and lucidly present the experiences and outlook of an American Contemporary Freudian perspective. The result is a work that is a true contribution, one that impressively explains a point of view in a non-defensive manner, one undiminished by defensive shots taken at other points of view. The authors of A New Freudian Synthesis thus set a high standard for all schools, offering both in-depth clinical presentations and theoretical inferences devoid of polemics. The reader comes away not only learning of one current approach but also, equally valuably, benefiting from having taken part in a master class that sharpens thinking for those who come from any psychoanalytic orientation.'- Warren S. Poland, MD, member of the American Psychoanalytic Association, winner of the Sigourney Award 2009 for Outstanding Contributions to psychoanalysisContributors: Sheldon Bach, Andrew B. Druck, Carolyn Ellman, Jay Frankel, Norbert Freedman, Marvin Hurvich, Gil A. Katz, Mary Libbey, Michal Talby-Abarbanel, Aaron Thaler, Neal Vorus