Fundamentals of Psychoanalytic Technique

Horacio Etchegoyen, psychoanalyst and author of the seminal and widely acclaimed 'The Fundamentals of Psychoanalytic Technique', was the first Latin-American President of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA), from 1993 to 1997, an Honorary Vice-President of the IPA, and President of the Asociacion Psicoanalitica de Buenos Aires (APdeBA) from 1977 to 1978.

• Preface to the 1999 Edition -- Preface -- Foreword -- Introduction to the Problems of Technique -- Psychoanalytic technique -- Indications and contraindications according to the diagnosis and other particulars -- Analysability -- The psychoanalytic interview: structure and objectives -- The psychoanalytic interview: development -- The psychoanalytic contract -- On Transference and Countertransference -- History and concept of the transference -- The dynamics of transference -- Transference and repetition -- The dialectics of the transference according to Lacan -- The theory of the sujet supposé savoir— the subject supposed to know -- The forms of transference -- Transference psychosis -- Transference perversion -- Early transference -- Early transference -- On the spontaneity of the transference phenomenon -- The therapeutic alliance: from Wiesbaden to Geneva -- The non-transference analytic relationship -- Therapeutic alliance: discussion, controversy and polemics -- Countertransference: discovery and rediscovery -- Countertransference and object relationship -- Countertransference and psychoanalytic process -- On Interpretation and Other Instruments -- Materials and instruments of psychotherapy -- The concept of interpretation -- Interpretation in psychoanalysis -- Constructions -- Constructions of early development -- Metapsychology of interpretation -- Interpretation and the ego -- Melanie Klein and the theory of interpretation -- Types of interpretation -- Mutative interpretation -- Interpretative styles -- Epistemological aspects of psychoanalytic interpretation -- On the Nature of the Psychoanalytic Process -- The analytic situation -- Analytic situation and analytic process -- The analytic setting -- The analytic process -- Regression and setting -- Regression as a curative process -- Separation anxiety and psychoanalytic process -- The setting and the container/contained theory -- On the Stages of Analysis -- The initial stage -- The middle stage of analysis -- Theories of termination -- Clinical aspects of termination -- The technique of termination of analysis -- On the Vicissitudes of the Psychoanalytic Process -- Insight and its defining characteristics -- Insight and working-through -- The metapsychology of insight -- Acting Out [1] -- Acting out [2] -- Acting out [3] -- Negative therapeutic reaction [1] -- Negative therapeutic reaction [2] -- Reversible perspective [1] -- Reversible perspective [2] -- The theory of misunderstanding -- Impasse -- Epilogue

'R. Horacio Etchegoyen has written a splendid textbook on psychoanalytic technique- thoughtful, extensive in its coverage, authoritative without being polemical, deep in insights that refl ect the author's clinical experience... Both beginners and experienced analysts should fi nd this book of interest and value. The former for its overview and as a guide to original sources, the latter for being introduced to a seasoned analyst's experience and wisdom... Above all, psychoanalytic technique is presented throughout as a scientifi c inquiry in progress, and the interchange of communication across alternative approaches it proposes is a creative, productive way of stimulating understanding and fostering the eff ectiveness of our interventions with patients. I believe this book will be recognized as a major milestone in the growing literature on psychoanalytic technique and a major crossroad facilitating the communication and mutual enrichment of alternative schools and approaches.'- Otto F. Kernberg, MD'In the preface, the author writes: "My one aspiration is that this book may help my colleagues to discover in themselves the analysts that they really are." To that end, I think it will surely succeed. It will be of inestimable value to all teachers and students of psychoanalysis, however experienced. There is no other book like it.'- Patrick Casement'[The Fundamentals of Psychoanalytic Technique] is encyclopaedic in its consideration of the various theories of psychoanalytic technique... It is catholic in its inclusiveness, but at the same time, the panorama it presents has been distilled through the author's intelligence so that it has the mark of personal scholarship... These topics are covered in a thoughtful and critical way, with numerous cross-references between them. Etchegoyen is a gentleman; always thoughtful and respectful, he considers each point of view with an impressive even-handedness and objectivity. When he disagrees or criticizes, he is straightforward and direct, never pulling punches or mincing words, but at the same time he manages never to be polemical. For instance, although he has serious criticisms of many of Lacan's ideas, I found his exposition of them to be no less respectful, and more lucid, than any I have read by Lacan's adherents. This alone is worth the price of the book.'- Robert Caper, MD