ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a novel way of looking at psychoanalysis and, in keeping with the central epistemological themes of the book, its evolution and development. The central premise of the chapter is that this is not a history of the rise and fall of various metapsychologies. Although such theoretical shifts did undoubtedly occur, psychoanalysis is first and foremost about being with patients and its history is a history of how we understand such being. The chapter also looks into the future of psychoanalysis, how it will be increasingly influenced by developments in related disciplines, and how it will have to evolve to maintain its relevance in a world that, growingly, views it as arcane and obsolete. If our discipline is to continue to exist, let alone to thrive, we are going to have to face these challenges head-on rather than with our all too usual complacency.
