An Enduring Legacy features ten psychoanalytic pioneers: Karl Abraham, Jacob Arlow, Sándor Ferenczi, Robert Fliess, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, Ernest Jones, Herman Nunberg, Ella Freeman Sharpe, Donald Winnicott, and Meyer Zeligs. Each chapter begins with a lively biography of the author, which is followed by the full text of the original paper, and ends with the editors’ critical assessment of the paper’s core tenets, where it fits within the evolution of psychoanalysis, the enduring insights that make it a classic, and its relevance to contemporary perspectives. This structure puts the reader in direct contact with the author’s authentic voice and the intellectual era in which they wrote, while situating its message within the present day.
The editors’ aim is to call the attention to the wealth of past contributions that are no longer widely read yet remain profoundly significant. The papers span the years of 1909 to 1961 with a diversity of voices – Continental, British, émigré, and native-born North American – and perspectives – drive theory, ego psychology, British independent tradition, and object-relations theory. This careful choice provides a richness of regional, ethnocultural, historical, and theoretical diversity. Salman Akhtar, Süreyya İşcan, and Cüneyt İşcan have assembled a must-read collection of papers for all practicing and trainee psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists, plus academics in the psychoanalytic and related fields.
Süreyya İşcan, PhD, is a psychologist and board-certified psychoanalyst whose work bridges developmental science, psychoanalytic theory, and clinical practice. She earned her MA in educational psychology and PhD in developmental psychology from Ankara University in Turkey, followed by a second MA and PhD in clinical psychology from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. Dr. İşcan worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Michigan and pursued advanced training in psychodynamic research at the Yale Child Study Center and the Anna Freud Centre. She later served as a research associate at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where she deepened her engagement with psychoanalytic treatment and research. She is a graduate of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (BPSI), where she currently serves as vice chair of the Curriculum Committee. Dr. İşcan is associate professor of psychiatry and director of psychotherapy education at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. A dedicated educator, she is a three-time recipient of the Paul B. Barreira Teaching Award (2016, 2018, 2019). Her scholarly work spans psychoanalytic research, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and the study of sexuality, reflecting her ongoing commitment to integrating clinical insight with empirical inquiry.
ALEKSANDAR DIMITRIJEVIĆ, Ph.D. Lecturer, International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin, Coeditor of ‘Encountering Silencing: Forms of Oppression in Individuals, Families and Communities’ –
‘Psychoanalytic legacy has constantly been contested by critics, historians, and contemporary psychoanalysts themselves. Notwithstanding that, the editors of this volume have selected ten exquisite papers by the early masters, framing each with informative introductions and scholarly reassessments of their relevance and limitations. A book to be savoured, at a time when you thought there was nothing left in the history of psychoanalysis to surprise and inspire you.’
MARY KAY O’NEIL, Ph.D. Training and Supervising Analyst, Toronto Institute of Psychoanalysis, Author of ‘Mothering Alone: A Plea for Opportunity’ –
‘This book draws together the clinical thinking of ten important early contributors to psychoanalysis. It allows the readers to refresh their knowledge of the lives and works of these pioneers while focusing sharply on one paper by each of them. More importantly, it compares and contrasts the technical suggestions contained in these early papers with the viewpoint of contemporary psychoanalysis. An Enduring Legacy thus makes many forgotten but therapeutically useful insights of early analysis easily accessible to today’s clinicians. A great gift indeed!’
CORDELIA SCHMIDT-HELLERAU, Ph.D. Training and Supervising Analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Author of ‘Life Drive & Death Drive, Libido & Lethe’ –
‘As psychoanalysis increasingly ventures into new areas, it is important to go back and read the works of the pioneers in our field. The carefully introduced and discussed papers in this excellent selection breathe an openness and enthusiasm in their immediate access to clinical work that make this book inspiring for the early career clinicians and invigorating for senior analysts across various schools.’