Holding and Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective

209 Pages·2013·1.2 MB·English

by  Joyce Anne Slochower

HOLDING AND PSYCHOANALYSIS
In Holding and Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective, Joyce Slochower brings
a sophisticated contemporary framework to bear on Winnicott’s notion of the
holding environment. Revisiting holding’s clinical impact and theoretical
underpinnings, Slochower explores its function in those moments when
neither interpretive nor intersubjective work can be tolerated. She expands
the holding construct beyond the needs of dependent patients by examining
its therapeutic shape across the clinical spectrum.
This second edition has been substantially rewritten to incorporate new
theoretical and clinical material. Two new chapters address holding’s impact
on interior experience; a third describes its function in acts of memorialization
across the lifespan; still another chapter updates the place of developmental
metaphors in contemporary thinking and formulates holding’s function in
buffering shame states.
Slochower situates holding within a relational frame that encompasses
both deliberate and enacted aspects. In her view, the analyst doesn’t hold
alone; patient and analyst together bracket disjunctive elements to establish
a co-constructed holding space. The book pays particular attention to the
analyst’s experience, offering rich clinical vignettes that illustrate the struggle
that holding entails.  Holding and Psychoanalysis offers a clear and incisive
exploration of common therapeutic knots and how we—and our patients—
negotiate them.
Joyce Slochower is Professor Emerita at Hunter College and Graduate
Center, the City University of New York, and the author of Psychoanalytic
Collisions (Routledge, 2006). She is on the Faculty of the New York University
Postdoctoral Program, the National Training Program of the National
Institute for the Psychotherapies, the Steven Mitchell Center, the Philadelphia
Center for Relational Studies, and the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern
California in San Francisco. She is in private practice in New York City.
RELATIONAL PERSPECTIVES BOOK SERIES
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris
The Relational Perspectives Book Series (RPBS) publishes books that grow out of or contribute
to the relational tradition in contemporary psychoanalysis. The term relational psychoanalysis
was fi rst used by Greenberg and Mitchell (1983) to bridge the traditions of interpersonal
relations, as developed within interpersonal psychoanalysis and object relations, as developed
within contemporary British theory. But, under the seminal work of the late Stephen Mitchell,
the term relational psychoanalysis grew and began to accrue to itself many other infl uences and
developments. Various tributaries—interpersonal psychoanalysis, object relations theory, self
psychology, empirical infancy research, and elements of contemporary Freudian and Kleinian
thought—fl ow into this tradition, which understands relational confi gurations between self
and others, both real and fantasied, as the primary subject of psychoanalytic investigation.
We refer to the relational tradition, rather than to a relational school, to highlight that we
are identifying a trend, a tendency within contemporary psychoanalysis, not a more formally
organized or coherent school or system of beliefs. Our use of the term relational signifi es a
dimension of theory and practice that has become salient across the wide spectrum of
contemporary psychoanalysis. Now under the editorial supervision of Lewis Aron and Adrienne
Harris, the Relational Perspectives Book Series originated in 1990 under the editorial eye of
the late Stephen A. Mitchell. Mitchell was the most prolifi c and infl uential of the originators of
the relational tradition. He was committed to dialogue among psychoanalysts and he abhorred
the authoritarianism that dictated adherence to a rigid set of beliefs or technical restrictions. He
championed open discussion, comparative and integrative approaches, and he promoted new
voices across the generations.

Included in the Relational Perspectives Book Series are authors and works that come from
within the relational tradition, extend and develop the tradition, as well as works that critique
relational approaches or compare and contrast it with alternative points of view. The series
includes our most distinguished senior psychoanalysts along with younger contributors who
bring fresh vision.
Vol. 56 Vol. 48
HOLDING AND PSYCHOANALYSIS: TOWARD MUTUAL RECOGNITION:
A Relational Perspective Relational Psychoanalysis and the
Joyce Slochower Christian Narrative
Marie T. Hoffman
Vol. 55
A PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR THE Vol. 47
PEOPLE: UPROOTED MINDS:
Toward a Progressive Psychoanalysis Surviving the Politics of Terror in the
Lewis Aron & Karen Starr Americas
Nancy Caro Hollander
Vol. 54
THE SILENT PAST AND THE Vol. 46
INVISIBLE PRESENT: A DISTURBANCE IN THE FIELD:
Memory, Trauma, and Representation in Essays in Transference-Countertransference
Psychotherapy Engagement
Paul Renn Steven H. Cooper
Vol. 53 Vol. 45
INDIVIDUALIZING GENDER AND FIRST DO NO HARM:
SEXUALITY: The Paradoxical Encounters of
Theory and Practice Psychoanalysis, Warmaking, and Resistance
Nancy Chodorow Adrienne Harris & Steven Botticelli (eds.)
Vol. 52 Vol. 44
RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS, GOOD ENOUGH ENDINGS:
VOL. V: Breaks, Interruptions, and Terminations
Evolution of Process from Contemporary Relational Perspectives
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.) Jill Salberg (ed.)
Vol. 51 Vol. 43
RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS, INVASIVE OBJECTS:
VOL. IV: Minds under Siege
Expansion of Theory Paul Williams
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.)
Vol. 42
Vol. 50 SABERT BASESCU:
WITH CULTURE IN MIND: Selected Papers on Human Nature and
Psychoanalytic Stories Psychoanalysis
Muriel Dimen (ed.) George Goldstein & Helen Golden (eds.)
Vol. 49 Vol. 41
UNDERSTANDING AND TREATING THE HERO IN THE MIRROR:
DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY From Fear to Fortitude
DISORDER: Sue Grand
A Relational Approach
Elizabeth F. Howell
Vol. 40 Vol. 32
THE ANALYST IN THE INNER GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE:
CITY, SECOND EDITION: Analytic Love, Analytic Process
Race, Class, and Culture through a Sheldon Bach
Psychoanalytic Lens
Neil Altman Vol. 31
UNCONSCIOUS FANTASIES AND
Vol. 39 THE RELATIONAL WORLD
DARE TO BE HUMAN: Danielle Knafo & Kenneth Feiner
A Contemporary Psychoanalytic Journey
Michael Shoshani Rosenbaum Vol. 30
THE HEALER’S BENT:
Vol. 38 Solitude and Dialogue in the Clinical
REPAIR OF THE SOUL: Encounter
Metaphors of Transformation in Jewish James T. McLaughlin
Mysticism and Psychoanalysis
Karen E. Starr Vol. 29
CHILD THERAPY IN THE GREAT
Vol. 37 OUTDOORS:
ADOLESCENT IDENTITIES: A Relational View
A Collection of Readings Sebastiano Santostefano
Deborah Browning (ed.)
Vol. 28
Vol. 36 RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS,
BODIES IN TREATMENT: VOL. II:
The Unspoken Dimension Innovation and Expansion
Frances Sommer Anderson (ed.) Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.)
Vol. 35 Vol. 27
COMPARATIVE-INTEGRATIVE THE DESIGNED SELF:
PSYCHOANALYSIS: Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Identities
A Relational Perspective for the Discipline’s Carlo Strenger
Second Century
Brent Willock Vol. 26
IMPOSSIBLE TRAINING:
Vol. 34 A Relational View of Psychoanalytic
RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS, Education
VOL. III: Emanuel Berman
New Voices
Melanie Suchet, Adrienne Harris, Vol. 25
& Lewis Aron (eds.) GENDER AS SOFT ASSEMBLY
Adrienne Harris
Vol. 33
CREATING BODIES: Vol. 24
Eating Disorders as Self-Destructive Survival MINDING SPIRITUALITY
Katie Gentile Randall Lehman Sorenson
Vol. 23 Vol. 14
SEPTEMBER 11: RELATIONAL PSYCHOANALYSIS:
Trauma and Human Bonds The Emergence of a Tradition
Susan W. Coates, Jane L. Rosenthal, & Stephen A. Mitchell & Lewis Aron (eds.)
Daniel S. Schechter (eds.)
Vol. 13
Vol. 22 SEDUCTION, SURRENDER, AND
SEXUALITY, INTIMACY, POWER TRANSFORMATION:
Muriel Dimen Emotional Engagement in the Analytic
Process
Vol. 21 Karen Maroda
LOOKING FOR GROUND:
Countertransference and the Problem of Vol. 12
Value in Psychoanalysis RELATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON
Peter G. M. Carnochan THE BODY
Lewis Aron & Frances Sommer Anderson (eds.)
Vol. 20
RELATIONALITY: Vol. 11
From Attachment to Intersubjectivity BUILDING BRIDGES:
Stephen A. Mitchell Negotiation of Paradox in Psychoanalysis
Stuart A. Pizer
Vol. 19
WHO IS THE DREAMER, WHO Vol. 10
DREAMS THE DREAM? FAIRBAIRN, THEN AND NOW
A Study of Psychic Presences Neil J. Skolnick and David E. Scharff (eds.)
James S. Grotstein
Vol. 9
Vol. 18 INFLUENCE AND AUTONOMY IN
OBJECTS OF HOPE: PSYCHOANALYSIS
Exploring Possibility and Limit in Stephen A. Mitchell
Psychoanalysis
Steven H. Cooper Vol. 8
UNFORMULATED EXPERIENCE:
Vol. 17 From Dissociation to Imagination in
THE REPRODUCTION OF EVIL: Psychoanalysis
A Clinical and Cultural Perspective Donnel B. Stern
Sue Grand
Vol. 7
Vol. 16 SOUL ON THE COUCH:
PSYCHOANALYTIC Spirituality, Religion, and Morality in
PARTICIPATION: Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Action, Interaction, and Integration Charles Spezzano & Gerald J. Gargiulo (eds.)
Kenneth A. Frank
Vol. 6
Vol. 15 THE THERAPIST AS A PERSON:
THE COLLAPSE OF THE SELF AND Life Crises, Life Choices, Life Experiences,
ITS THERAPEUTIC RESTORATION and Their Effects on Treatment
Rochelle G. K. Kainer Barbara Gerson (ed.)
Vol. 5 Vol. 2
HOLDING AND PSYCHOANALYSIS: AFFECT IN PSYCHOANALYSIS:
A Relational Perspective A Clinical Synthesis
Joyce A. Slochower Charles Spezzano
Vol. 4 Vol. 1
A MEETING OF MINDS: CONVERSING WITH
Mutuality in Psychoanalysis UNCERTAINTY:
Lewis Aron Practicing Psychotherapy in a Hospital
Setting
Vol. 3 Rita Wiley McCleary
THE ANALYST IN THE INNER
CITY:
Race, Class, and Culture through a
Psychoanalytic Lens
Neil Altman
HOLDING AND
PSYCHOANALYSIS
A Relational Perspective
Second Edition
Joyce Slochower
Second edition published 2014
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2014 Joyce Slochower
The right of Joyce Slochower to be identifi ed as author of this work has been
asserted by her 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 identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
First edition published by The Analytic Press, 1996
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
Slochower, Joyce, Anne, 1950-
Holding and psychoanalysis : a relational perspective. -- 2nd edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-415-64069-5 (hbk.) -- ISBN 978-0-415-64070-1 (pbk.) -- ISBN
978-0-203-74736-0 (ebk.) 1. Holding (Psychoanalysis) 2. Psychotherapist
and patient. I. Title.
RC489.H64S56 2013
616.89(cid:2)17--dc23
2013001436
ISBN: 978-0-415-64069-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-64070-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-74736-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Garamond 3
by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction: Holding in a Relational Frame 1
2 Holding as Metaphor: the Winnicottian Model 8
3 Holding and Regression to Dependence: the Winnicottian Model 24
4 Holding and Self-Involvement: the Evolving Holding Metaphor 44
5 Holding Ruthlessness and Hate 58
6 On the Edge: Working Around a Holding Illusion 75
7 Interior Experience in Analytic Process 86
8 Holding and the Problem of Absent Desire 99
9 When Holding Fails 109
10 The Holding Function in Mourning 116
11 The Dynamics of Commemorative Ritual 127
12 Holding in Context 142
13 The Evolution of Psychoanalytic Collaboration 154
14 Holding: a Long View 168
References 177
Subject Index 190
Author Index 195