Neil Altman

Black and White Thinking: A Psychoanalyst Reconsiders Race

This paper begins with an analysis of race as a social construction and then follows the argument that, at a deep structural level, race and racism are organized by the same rational–irrational polarity of Enlightenment philosophy that informs psychoanalytic structural theory. The heart of the paper is formed by two case examples, one from my own practice and one from Leary (1997). I argue that unconscious racism is to be expected in our clinical work at this point in history and that truly reparative efforts depend on an acknowledgement of racism in the transference–countertransference matrix.

Psychoanalysis and the urban poor

This paper considers, from a psychoanalytic point of view, work with urban poor patients. A previous attempt, from an ego psychological perspective, to adapt psychoanalytic theory and technique for work with such patients is reviewed. An attempt is then made to elaborate an object relations perspective, based largely on the work of Fairbairn. The two approaches are compared and contrasted, especially with respect to common problems that arise in work with this group of people, such as missed appointments, crises, and requests for “concrete”; help. Finally, there is a review of how the structure and policies of the public clinics in which most poor patients are seen impact on analytically oriented work.

Manic Society: Toward the Depressive Position

I argue that on both the small-scale level of the interpersonal relationship, and the large-scale level of society, the manic defense makes it difficult to care about others, and so militates against a sense of social responsibility. I address four basic questions: what is the nature of social responsibility? What is the nature of the manic defense? How does the manic defense interfere with the potential for social responsibility? And, on a more general level, what are the issues with respect to methodology for efforts such as this one to link psychoanalysis and social theory?

History Repeats Itself in Transference—Countertransference

The dynamics of the larger society inevitably are manifest in intrapsychic dynamics, as well as interpersonal interactions, in and out of the psychoanalytic consulting room. Traditional psychoanalytic inattention to the social world predisposes analysts to enact unreflectively some of the racist and classist patterns in the social world around us in our clinical work. This author argues first that U.S. psychoanalysis, as a field, has sought to define itself as white, thereby demonstrating the influence of racism in this country. Second, in a clinical example, the author demonstrates the subtle imprint of racism and classism in a dyad in which both participants are conventionally classified as white. He concludes that open discussion of U.S. history and of the past and current social location of psychoanalysis as a field goes hand in hand with increased awareness of the ways in which social forces organize psychoanalytic interactions.

Relational Horizons in Child Psychoanalysis

ince the 1983 publication by Greenberg and Mitchell of Object RelaS tions in Psychoanalytic Theory, there has been an explosion of interest in and development of the implications of a relational perspective for adult psychoanalysis. There has been no comparable undertaking in child psychoanalysis, especially in North America. It is ironic that this is so, since many of the analysts who contributed to the development of a relational point of view for adult work were child analysts, e.g., Winnicott, Klein, and many of her followers. In this paper I will spell out what I see as some of the ways in which child psychoanalysis and therapy might be transformed by an application of the relational point of view to this work. These transformations fall into two categories: work with parents, and our understanding of transference and countertransference in child work. Traditionally, child analysts have worked with parents in only the most limited ways, that is, to guide them in their parenting, and to secure their support for the child’s analysis. If necessary, parents were sent to colleagues for their own analyses. I believe this way of dealing with parents reflects the traditional child analyst’s one-person bias-the tendency to focus on intrapsychic processes as constituting the analytic field. Anna Freud’s (1966) emphasis on ego development brought in the parents to some extent as facilitators, or impeders, of the child’s development-thus, parent guidance assumed importance. Analytic work with parents, in connection with the child work, was in a sense unthinkable. Could one do real analytic work with parents when one met with them relatively infrequently, if the focus were on the child, and if transference were not explicitly analyzed? Freud-

And Now For Something Completely Different: Humor in Psychoanalysis Commentary on Paper by Joseph Newirth

In this commentary, I argue that if humor is to be considered in an intersubjective context, the impact of any comment or action by analyst or patient cannot be predicted with much confidence. An interaction that is experienced by both parties as humorous depends on an unconscious confluence that is largely spontaneous. Efforts to orchestrate a particular outcome to an intervention that is meant to be humorous may well reveal more than was intended, and thus have an unpredictable unconscious resonance.

On Being Bad While Doing Good: Pro Bono Clinical Work with Foster Children and Their Families

This paper will look at the experience of bad feelings and disappointments that arose despite the good intentions and generosity of providing pro bono treatment to foster children. Written in four segments by the founders of The Fostering Connection (formerly The Childrens Psychotherapy Project, a program of A Home Within), the paper will explore the clinical, theoretical, and organizational aspects of this project. In the first part, we give a theoretical perspective followed by a report of some clinical work, and finally we offer some reflections on the development of our ideas to date including some thoughts about where we are headed. As psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists, in the planning for this project we sought to bring our analytic point of view to the task of providing weekly psychotherapy to foster children and their families. For context, we will start by giving a description of how our organization works and a history of our ideas and evolution as a group.

From Fathering Daughters to Doddering Father

In this article, I consider some of the dilemmas and challenges of a male therapist working with female adolescents, in counterpoint to those facing the father of adolescent daughters. There is a conventional wisdom that female adolescents need female therapists; I argue that this kind of thinking is related to the common phenomenon of fathers withdrawing emotionally from their daughters when they reach adolescence. I draw out some implications of what it might mean to father an adolescent daughter if one does not accept the conventional wisdom.

The Psychodynamics of Torture

In this paper I consider some of the issues raised by the way the American Psychological Association has dealt with the participation of psychologists in interrogations at Guantanamo Bay. I set forth some of my experience, and what I feel I learned, from trying to convince the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association to support a moratorium on the participation of psychologists in interrogations of detainees at centers where due process is systematically denied. The paper was written before the Council of Representatives voted down the idea of a moratorium, with a coda describing the outcome.

Discussion: Psychoanalysis in the Community

In this discussion of papers by Ehrensaft, Gin, and Fernando, the author reviews some of the dilemmas and opportunities that arise when community-based therapeutic work is taken up with a psychoanalytic perspective.