ABSTRACT
This chapter brings relational theory into conversation with the work of several sociologists who have explored subjective experience in late modernity. It thus places relational theory and practice into socio-historical context. The sociologists suggest that Western democracies have promoted individuation at the expense of considerations of collective needs. Among other things, a loss of collective supports requires subjects to become “entrepreneurial selves,” and this often issues in extreme vulnerability, if not breakdown of the self. Intimate relationships tend to bear the burden of these losses and demands, rendering them, too, precarious. The sociologists also raise important questions about expertise that resonate with arguments of key relational analytic theorists. In sum, the work of these sociologists suggests why relational theory and practice might, at this historical juncture, feel so compelling and so true to so many of us. Finally, the chapter argues that while many relational clinicians have provided compelling accounts of our embeddedness in social structures and in history, we have yet to explore the ways in which a psychosocial perspective would necessarily alter relational technique. The chapter concludes with a brief review of the work of some psychosocially-influenced relational analysts who have offered promising technical innovations.
