ABSTRACT
In Chapter 8, we reviewed the debates of the 1950s, in which the mainstream analysts of the era defined psychoanalysis by contrasting it with psychotherapy. Throughout this book, we have argued that this method of definition via binary opposition has been detrimental to our profession. This leaves us with the challenge of articulating how psychoanalysis should be defined. In this chapter, we take up this question, which is so central to our profession and our professional identities: “What is psychoanalysis?” We examine several contemporary efforts to define psychoanalysis, and propose our own ideas about how best to go about the process of arriving at a definition that is inclusive of the full range of psychoanalytic therapies. In making our arguments, we keep in mind the words of intellectual historian Dominick Lacapra, “Problematic distinctions are not binary oppositions” (cited in Boyarin, 1999).
