Hope and Mortality

Mark J. Blechner, Ph.D., is Training and Supervising Analyst and Teaching Faculty at the William Alanson White Institute and at the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. A member of the editorial board of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Dr. Blechner also participates in the study group on neuropsychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. He has written numerous articles on dreams and is the author of The Dream Frontier (Analytic Press, 2001).

• Blechner, Introduction. Part I: Principles of Treatment.Blechner, Psychodynamic Approaches to AIDS and HIV. Schaffner, Modifying Psychotherapeutic Methods When Treating the HIV-Positive Patient. Aronson, Treatment of Children and Parents in Families with AIDS. Bodnar, "Gidget Goes to Sing-Sing": An Interpersonal Therapeutic Approach to HIV-Positive Substance Abusers. Part II: Case Studies.Shapiro, There But for the Grace of . . . : Countertransference During the Psychotherapy of a Young HIV-Positive Woman. Marisak, Psychotherapy of an AIDS Patient with Dementia. Petrucelli, "Playing with Fire": Transference-Countertransference Configurations in the Treatment of a Sexually Compulsive HIV-Positive Gay Man. Gartner, Managing Chronic Loss and Grief: Contrapuntal Needs of an AIDS Patient and His Therapist. Eisold, Disease, Death, and Group Process from a Psychodynamic Point of View. Mujica, When a Patient Becomes HIV-Positive During Psychotherapy. O'Leary, A Heterosexual Male Therapist's Journey of Self-Discovery: Wearing a "Straight"jacket in a Gay Men's Bereavement Group. Bodnar, Dances with Men: The Impact of Multiple Losses in My Practice of Psychoanalytically Informed Psychotherapy.

"These essays are both moving and informative because their authors are willing to share with us not only their sophisticated clinical experiences but also their personal experiences of the mutually transforming relationship between therapist and the person with AIDS who seeks counseling. Hope and Mortality is wonderfully open to questioning assumptions, even as it demonstrates how interpersonal and relational psychoanalytic thinking can illuminate a difficult treatment journey. It is essential reading for clinicians of our time."- Gillian Walker, ACSW, Author, In the Midst of Winter“Hope and Mortality is a much needed, beautifully done book. The chapters on technique are wise; the case studies poignant and illuminating. Overall, the book is essential for those who work with AIDS patients, and extremely useful to anyone who practices psychodynamic psychotherapy." - Jay Greenberg, Ph.D., Contemporary Psychoanalysis"For anyone who might ask where generosity, humanity, and flexibility have gone in mental health care, the answer is that they are present every day in psychodynamic work with AIDS patients. The cutting edge of psychotherapy is here, in the pressure cooker" of engagement with people made inescapably aware of their mortality. This is a book for every psychotherapist. n particular, I cannot imagine a clinician reading Mark Blechner's wise and measured overview chapter without gaining a sense of renewal."- Peter D. Kramer, M.D., Author, Listening to Prozac