This book records a series of groundbreaking discussions that took place in 1994-95 between a number of prominent Kleinian and Lacanian psychoanalysts. The aim of the presentations and the debates that followed was to allow for dialogue, as well as controversy, to take place. Respecting the convictions of the other and allowing their expression in their own terms became a prerequisite in the dialogue. Topics discussed included phantasy, sexuality, counter-transference, the unconscious, interpretation and technique, and child analysis. The meetings provided an opportunity for reflection upon the implications for respective positions and an appreciation of the sensitivities of both schools.
Among the speakers were Margaret Rustin, Bice Benvenuto, Catalina Bronstein, Bernard Burgoyne, Robert M. Young, Darian Leader, Jane Temperley, Dany Nobus, Robert Hinshelwood, Vicente Palomera, Robin Anderson, Filip Geerardyn, and Marc du Ry. The book is rounded off by contributions from two of the giants of psychoanalysis – Eric Laurent for Lacan and Donald Meltzer for Klein.
Mary Sullivan, BEd (Hons), MA(Psych & Couns), UKCP Reg., PMCosca, has worked for many years in postgraduate psychotherapy education and training as a teacher, team leader and manager, and is an experienced independent practitioner who works with a wide range of clients. She is co-author with Harriett Goldenberg of ‘Psychotherapy, Relationality and the Long Revolution’ in The Psyche in the Modern World: Psychotherapy and Society (ed. T. Warnecke), and editor of Unconscious Communication In Practice (1999). She has also authored a number of papers and chapters, concentrating latterly on ethics and the wider implications of psychotherapy as a ‘new technology of human relations’.