ABSTRACT
Benjamin Wolstein was perhaps the most charismatic and influential clinical teacher and supervisor of his generation of interpersonal psychoanalysts. Along with Edgar Levenson and Erwin Singer, it was Wolstein who created interpersonal psychoanalysis from the work of the previous generation. Wolstein went on to write many other articles and books over the next several decades. He developed an influential perspective having to do with immediate experience between patient and analyst, and he emphasized the uniqueness of each person and each analytic couple. His clinical supervision, both individual and group, was legendary for decades among candidates. Space considerations made it impossible to include the excellent interview of Wolstein carried out by Hirsch, and the commentaries offered on that interview by writers who were close to Wolstein, including Wilner (2000) and Shapiro (2000). Shapiro's article, in particular, is simultaneously scholarly, deeply felt, and personal, a combination that all of those who were close to Wolstein recognize as the heart of the man.
