Moments of Meeting in Psychoanalysis ─ Interaction and Change in the Therapeutic Encounter

There are moments of connection between analysts and patients during any therapeutic encounter upon which the therapy can turn. Moments of Meeting in Psychoanalysis explores how analysts and therapists can experience these moments of meeting, shows how this interaction can become an enlivening and creative process, and seeks to recognise how it can change both the analyst and patient in profound and fundamental ways.

The theory and practice of contemporary psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy has reached an exciting new moment of generous and generative interaction. As psychoanalysts become more intersubjective and relational in their work, it becomes increasingly critical that they develop approaches that have the capacity to harness and understand powerful moments of meeting, capable of propelling change through the therapeutic relationship. Often these are surprising human moments in which both client and clinician are moved and transformed. Moments of Meeting in Psychoanalysis offers a window into the ways in which some of today’s practitioners think about, encourage, and work with these moments of meeting in their practices. Each chapter of the book offers theoretical material, case examples, and a discussion of various therapists’ reflections on and experiences with these moments of meeting.

With contributions from relational psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and Jungian analysts, and covering essential topics such as shame, impasse, mindfulness and group work, this book provides new theoretical thinking and practical clinical guidance on how best to work with moments of meeting in any relationally oriented therapeutic practice. Moments of Meeting in Psychoanalysis will be of great interest to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, psychologists, social workers, workers in other mental health fields, graduate students and anyone interested in change processes.

Susan Lord, Ph.D., LICSW is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Social Work Department at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH. Prior to this, she held an appointment at Harvard Medical School. She is the author of the book Wealth and Social Responsibility, and of several book chapters and articles on work with complex childhood trauma and the use of mindfulness practices in psychotherapy. Lord is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Family Therapy, a Taos Institute Associate, and is in private practice in York, Maine.