From Classical to Contemporary Psychoanalysis ─ A Critique and Integration

The landscape of psychoanalysis has changed, at times dramatically, in the hundred or so years since Freud first began to think and write about it. Freudian theory and concepts have risen, fallen, evolved, mutated, and otherwise reworked themselves in the hands and minds of analysts the world over, leaving us with a theoretically pluralistic (yet threateningly multifarious) diffusion of psychoanalytic viewpoints.
To help make sense of it all, Morris Eagle sets out to critically reevaluate fundamental psychoanalytic concepts of theory and practice in a topical manner. Beginning at the beginning, he reintroduces Freud's ideas in chapters on the mind, object relations, psychopathology, and treatment; he then approaches the same topics in terms of more contemporary psychoanalytic schools. In each chapter, however, there is an underlying emphasis on identification and integration of converging themes, which is reemphasized in the final chapter. Relevant empirical research findings are used throughout, thus basic concepts - such as repression - are reexamined in the light of more contemporary developments.

Morris Eagle, Ph.D., ABPP, FRSC, is Professor Emeritus at the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, and is currently Distinguished Educator in Residence at California Lutheran University. He is on the faculty of the New York University Psychoanalytic Institute and the New Center for Psychoanalysis (NCP) in Los Angeles. He has received numerous awards, has presented widely, and is the author of over 150 articles and book chapters as well as 4 books.

Preface. Part I: Freudian Theory. Basic Paradigm of Freudian Theory. Conceptions of Mind in Freudian Theory. Conceptions of Object Relations in Freudian Theory. Conceptions of Psychopathology in Freudian Theory. Conceptions of Treatment in Freudian Theory. Part II: Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theories. Conceptions of Mind in Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theories. Conceptions of Object Relations in Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theories. Conceptions of Psychopathology in Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theories. Conceptions of Treatment in Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theories: Therapeutic Goals and Analytic Stance. Conceptions of Treatment in Contemporary Psychoanalytic Theories: Therapeutic Action and Ingredients. Part III: Overview and Integration. Divergences and Convergences.