The Contemporary Freudian Tradition: Past and Present

389 Pages·2020·3.78 MB·English

by  Ken Robinson and Joan Schächter

“This is a remarkable collection of papers. Each one is worth spend-
ing time with individually, while the collection as a whole is an
invaluable survey of the Contemporary Freudian tradition. Ken
Robinson and Joan Schächter, prominent members of that tradition,
have put together almost 20 papers, spanning some 40 years, which
address themes such as the unconscious mind; psychic development;
the body and psychosexuality; and aggression and destructiveness.
Some are acknowledged classics; others may take the reader into
new territory. Together they show the evolution over time of Con-
temporary Freudian thinking and reveal the richness and diversity
of what is a central current in today’s psychoanalysis.”
Dr Michael Parsons is a Fellow and Training
Analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society
“This collection of papers of the wide family of Contemporary
Freudian Analysts will help all of us, including those in the UK,
to keep Freudian thinking in a lively and creative way. The collec-
tion exemplifies the enormous wealth of Contemporary Freudian
thinking. Thanks to the efforts of the editors Ken Robinson and
Joan Schächter, this book should become obligatory reading for all
analysts.”
Dr Elisabeth Brainin, member and Training
Analyst of the Viennese Psychoanalytic Society

The Contemporary Freudian Tradition
This is the first book dedicated to the Contemporary Freudian Tradition. In its
introduction, and through its selection of papers, it describes the development
and rich diversity of this tradition over recent decades, showing how theory and
practice are inseparable in the psychoanalytic treatment of children, adolescents
and adults.
The book is organized around four major concerns in the Contemporary
Freudian Tradition: the nature of the Unconscious and the ways that it mani-
fests itself; the extension of Freud’s theories of development through the work
of Anna Freud and later theorists; the body and psychosexuality, including the
centrality of bodily experience as it is elaborated over time in the life of the
individual; and aggression. It also illustrates how within the Tradition different
exponents have been influenced by psychoanalytic thinking outside it, whether
from the Kleinian and Independent Groups, or from French Freudian thinking.
Throughout the book there is strong emphasis on the clinical setting, in, for ex-
ample, the value of the Tradition’s approach to the complex interrelationship of
body and mind in promoting a deeper understanding of somatic symptoms and
illnesses and working with them. There are four papers on the subject of dreams
within the Contemporary Freudian Tradition, illustrating the continuing im-
portance accorded to dreams and dreaming in psychoanalytic treatment.
This is the only book that describes in detail the family resemblances shared
by those working psychoanalytically within the richly diverse Contemporary
Freudian Tradition. It should appeal to anyone, from student onwards, who is
interested in the living tradition of Freud’s work as understood by one of the
three major groups within British psychoanalysis.
Ken Robinson works as a psychoanalyst in private practice in Newcastle upon
Tyne. He is a member of the British Psychoanalytical Society, Honorary Member
of the Polish Society for Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy and Visiting Professor
of Psychoanalysis at Northumbria University.
Joan Schächter trained as a psychiatrist before training as a psychoanalyst in the
British Psychoanalytic Institute. She worked a consultant psychotherapist in the
NHS for many years. Since retiring from the NHS she works in private psycho-
analytic practice.
THE NEW LIBRARY OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
General Editor: Alessandra Lemma
The New Library of Psychoanalysis was launched in 1987 in associa-
tion with the Institute of Psychoanalysis, London. It took over from
the International Psychoanalytical Library which published many of
the early translations of the works of Freud and the writings of most
of the leading British and Continental psychoanalysts.
The purpose of the New Library of Psychoanalysis is to facilitate
a greater and more widespread appreciation of psychoanalysis and to
provide a forum for increasing mutual understanding between psy-
choanalysts and those working in other disciplines such as the social
sciences, medicine, philosophy, history, linguistics, literature and
the arts. It aims to represent different trends both in British psycho-
analysis and in psychoanalysis generally. The New Library of Psy-
choanalysis is well placed to make available to the English- speaking
world psychoanalytic writings from other European countries and
to increase the interchange of ideas between British and American
psychoanalysts. Through the Teaching Series, the New Library of
Psychoanalysis now also publishes books that provide comprehen-
sive, yet accessible, overviews of selected subject areas aimed at those
studying psychoanalysis and related fields such as the social sciences,
philosophy, literature and the arts.
The Institute, together with the British Psychoanalytical Society,
runs a low-fee psychoanalytic clinic, organizes lectures and scientific
events concerned with psychoanalysis and publishes the International
Journal of Psychoanalysis. It runs a training course in psychoanaly-
sis which leads to membership of the International Psychoanalytical
Association—the body which preserves internationally agreed stand-
ards of training, of professional entry, and of professional ethics and
practice for psychoanalysis as initiated and developed by S igmund
Freud. Distinguished members of the Institute have included M ichael
Balint, Wilfred Bion, Ronald Fairbairn, Anna Freud, E rnest Jones,
Melanie Klein, John Rickman and Donald Winnicott.
Previous general editors have included David Tuckett, who played
a very active role in the establishment of the New Library. He was
followed as general editor by Elizabeth Bott Spillius, who was in turn
followed by Susan Budd and then by Dana Birksted-Breen. Current
members of the Advisory Board include Giovanna Di Ceglie, Liz
Allison, Anne Patterson, Josh Cohen and Daniel Pick.
Previous members of the Advisory Board include Christopher
Bollas, Ronald Britton, Catalina Bronstein, Donald Campbell,
Rosemary Davies, Sara Flanders, Stephen Grosz, John Keene, Eglé
Laufer, Alessandra Lemma, Juliet Mitchell, Michael Parsons, R osine
Jozef Perelberg, Richard Rusbridger, Mary Target and David Taylor.
For a full list of all the titles in the New Library of Psychoanal-
ysis main series as well as both the New Library of Psychoanal-
ysis ‘Teaching’ and ‘Beyond the Couch’ subseries, please visit the
Routledge website.

The Contemporary Freudian
Tradition
Past and Present
Edited by Ken Robinson and Joan Schächter
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Ken Robinson and Joan
Schächter; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Ken Robinson and Joan Schächter to be identified as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: | Robinson, Ken, editor. Schächter, Joan, editor.
Title: The contemporary Freudian tradition: past and present /
edited by Ken Robinson and Joan Schächter.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021.|
Series: The new library of psychoanalysis | Includes bibliographical
references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2020019387 (print) | LCCN 2020019388 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367483555 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367483562 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003039495 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939. | Psychoanalysis.
Classification: LCC BF173.C5675 2021 (print) | LCC BF173 (ebook) |
DDC 150.19/5209—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019387
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019388
ISBN: 978-0-367-48355-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-48356-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-03949-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by codeMantra
Contents
About the editors and contributors xii
Previously published material xvii
1 Introduction 1
KEN ROBINSON AND JOAN SCHÄCHTER
2 Phantasy and its transformations: a Contemporary
Freudian view 35
JOSEPH SANDLER AND ANNE-MARIE SANDLER
3 Unconscious phantasy and après-coup: the
Controversial Discussions 47
ROSINE JOZEF PERELBERG
4 The vicissitudes of preparing and sustaining a young
child in psychoanalysis 70
ANGELA JOYCE
5 The oedipal experience: effects on development of an
absent father 89
MARION BURGNER
6 Oedipus at play 107
KEN ROBINSON
ix