ABSTRACT
Menniger and Holzman, (1973) boldly declared, “There is … an implicit philosophy and ethic in the psychoanalytic experience … love is the greatest thing in the world … the intangible gains of psychoanalytic treatment extend out into the universe. They are immeasurable …” (p. 182). Notwithstanding, schisms arose early in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis and there was little love lost between Freud and his fallen acolytes. There were four main reasons for the schisms:
There was disagreement about the primacy that Freud afforded to sexuality and a shift in emphasis from sexual to social causes of psychopathology.
There were disagreements about technique and the locus of therapeutic action.
Interpersonal processes came to the fore in contrast to the purportedly intrapsychic focus of the original theory.
There was a change in focus from pathological development to normal developmental processes.
These themes are addressed in various ways in the conversations with the master clinicians in the coming chapters.