ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relational turn in psychoanalysis, the revolution toward a relational perspective in psychoanalysis that has supposedly taken place in the course of the past twenty five years. While there are local variants, the primary force behind the notion of this being a real turn is the American Relational School or perhaps group. Indeed, the group maintains, seeds of relational thinking and clinical practice may be found in some of Freud's work. However, the true father of the Relational approach is Sandor Ferenczi and his relational legacy may be seen to run through the teachings of Fairbairn, Balint and Winnicott, ultimately coming to fruition in American Relational psychoanalysis. This legacy is thought to be supported empirically by the findings of Attachment theory and infant research such as that of Daniel Stern and to be philosophically grounded in post-modern thinking.
