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Development of Psychoanalytic Thought & Theory
March 5, 2021 @ 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm, Freud Classroom
Fourth Year Adult Psychoanalytic Training (APT)
2020-21, 2nd Trimester — Fridays, 3:30-5:00pm
Julie Wood, MA
Melissa Stoker, MS
View Whole Syllabus
March 5, 2021 — USA: Rethinking Authority
[52 pages]
Kernberg’s biography and thinking mirrors the historical shifts of psychoanalysis. Born in Vienna, his family fled the Nazi’s, immigrated to Chile, where he studied object relations, before moving to the USA. Kernberg is a synthesizer; he is known for integrating ego psychology with contemporary object relations. In this paper he considers the concept of “authority” from a variety of perspectives. While surveying the larger field of psychoanalysis and varying ideas about authority, he makes his case for a more familiar picture of authority in the psychoanalytic setting.
Stephen Mitchell is sometimes described as the founder of relational theory. In this article he references Kernberg’s earlier article, and explains his own vision of authority from a relational perspective, differentiating it from Kernberg’s.
Kernberg, O. (1996). The Analyst’s Authority In The Psychoanalytic Situation. Psychoanal Q., 65:137-157.
Mitchell, S.A. (1998). The Analyst’s Knowledge and Authority. Psychoanal Q., 67(1):1-31.
Optional Reading
Benjamin, J. (2004). Beyond Doer and Done to: An Intersubjective View of Thirdness. Psychoanal Q., 73(1):5-46.
Prince, R. (1997). Is Talk Cheap or Silence Golden: The Negotiation of Activity in Psychotherapy. Psychoanal. Inq., 17(4):549-558.