The Intersubjective Perspective

This remarkable book is required reading for all mental professionals because it is the most comprehensive and articulate presentation about the recent changes in psychoanalytic theory concerning the inclusion of relational and interactional concepts. The authors' conception of a system of differently organized intersecting subjective worlds illuminates both the process of psychoanalytic therapy and the stages of psychic development. One of the central tenets of this innovative perspective is that clinical phenomena including all forms of psychopathology cannot be understood apart from the intersubjective contexts in which they take form. The intersubjective perspective provides a new methodological and epistemological stance that both calls for a radical modification of psychoanalytic theory and greatly enhances the effectiveness of psychoanalytic treatment.

Robert D. Stolorow, Ph.D., is a faculty member and training and supervising analyst at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles; a core faculty member at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity, New York City; and clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. George E. Atwood, Ph.D., is a core faculty member at the institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity, New York City, and professor of psychology at Rutgers University. Bernard Brandchaft, M.D., is a faculty member and training and supervising analyst at the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute and at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles; a core faculty member at the Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity, New York City; and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine.