ABSTRACT
Since this writing the influential work of both Stern and Bromberg in particular have situated the conception of dissociation dead center in efforts to both understand human development and the psychoanalytic processes employed to help people enrich their lives. In Interpersonal and Relational circles and beyond, the idea that life experience that has been unformulated in language exerts profound influence in the human psyche and in interpersonal interaction is now widely accepted. Sullivan's revolution and the Interpersonal tradition that stems from this begins with the idea that it is the broadest range of interaction with key others, from the beginning of life, and the internalization of these self-other experiences that carries more weight in human development than repressed drive states per se. The ability of analysts to work with patients with so-called 'character pathology' is supported by concepts of character discussed in the child observation literature of Daniel Stern and his colleagues.
