ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to compare different regional perspectives (European, Latin American and North American) on the history and the present situation of a necessary but often conflicting relationship. It presents a review of the methodologies that have been developed to deal with the clinical problems: how to understand the mental diseases and disorders and how to develop diagnostic procedures that keep together the aim of classifying something with the scope of building a relationship with someone. The book is devoted to illustration/comment of examples of integration between psychiatry and psychoanalysis at the level of the teaching, training and continuous education of young psychoanalysts and residents in psychiatry. It describes and focuses on examples of good and reproducible practices that may help the development of better relationships between the two disciplines.
