William Alanson White Institute Research Articles

Erich Fromm’s social psychoanalysis: Beyond the interpersonal dyad

This article addresses the place of society in Erich Fromm's pioneering psychoanalytic work and in the evolution of interpersonal theory and practice. It suggests that there is much to be gained from a re-examination of Fromm's politically progressive perspective. By bridging sociology and psychoanalysis, Fromm developed a new approach known as “social psychoanalysis,” which sought to explain and understand the centrality of society in human experience and the therapeutic process. Fromm moved beyond Freud and found an ally in the American psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan. Together, Fromm and Sullivan became the key founders of the Interpersonal School of Psychoanalysis located at the William Alanson White Institute in New York. Despite their commonalities, however, Fromm and Sullivan differed in central areas, particularly on the issue of “adaptation” to society. Sullivan believed that adaptation was a marker of successful personality development and Fromm maintained that society inscribed pathology into the human being. This difference would prove definitive as interpersonal psychoanalysis moved from its radical beginnings to become a dominant school of contemporary psychoanalysis that focused on the interpersonal dyad and the interactions between the analyst and patient.

Harry Stack Sullivan and Stephen Mitchell in Italy – A historical and a personal account

Having introduced readers to the history of the reception of psychoanalysis in Italy, the author reconstructs the history of the Italian reception of the work of Harry Stack Sullivan (1892–1949) and Stephen A. Mitchell (1946–2000). Sullivan’s work played a fundamental role in adding to the “new Italian psychiatry,” founded by Franco Basaglia (1824–1980), the psychodynamic dimension it lacked, creating a new convergence between the social and psychological dimensions of psychiatry. Mitchell’s work played a fundamental role in the development of the Italian tradition of psychoanalytic psychotherapy originally articulated by Gaetano Benedetti (1920–2013) and Pier Francesco Galli, following their reception of Sullivan’s work. This phenomenon coincided, from an institutional point of view, with the emergence of a network of Italian institutes and societies affiliated to the International Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies, which had been originally cofounded by the William Alanson White Institute – the institute founded by Sullivan in 1943, where Mitchell himself trained as a psychoanalyst at the end of the 1970s. Interpersonal and relational psychoanalysis also ended up finding a place in the work of several colleagues of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society, as well as allowing the foundation of several institutes and societies affiliated to the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. The author reconstructs this chapter of Italian psychoanalysis from both a historiographical and a personal point of view.

Before There Was Philip, There Was Phil

The author offers some reminiscences about the history of her relationship, both personal and professional, with Philip Bromberg. His early role in her training at the William Alanson White Institute is described with appreciation.

Jerome L. Singer (1924-2019).

Memorializes Jerome L. Singer (1924-2019). Singer's seminal research, conducted over 50þ years, laid the foundations for virtually all modern investigations of stream of consciousness and mind wandering. During a time when daydreaming was considered pathological, Singer showed it to be a pervasive aspect of human experience that served positive social and creative functions, earning him the moniker "the father of daydreaming." After receiving his PhD in clinical psychology in 1951, Singer was certified as a psychoanalyst through the William Alanson White Institute, while also holding several part-time research appointments. In 1963, Singer became director of the clinical psychology program at City University, where he and collaborator John Antrobus studied "decoupled attention." Singer joined the faculty of Yale University in 1972 and assumed emeritus status in 2006. At Yale, he worked closely with his wife Dorothy (who was an exemplary developmental psychologist in her own right), where they codirected Yale's Family TV Research and Consultation Center for more than 30 years. He died on December 14, 2019. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

From Soma to Symbol: Psychosomatic Conditions and Transformative Experience.

From Soma to Symbol: Psychosomatic Conditions and Transformative ExperienceVictoria MalkinVictoria MalkinVictoria Malkin, PhD, LP, is a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. She also has a PhD in anthropology and teaches classes at the New School for Public Engagement in New York City. She is a member of the William Alanson White Institute and the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:February 2020https://doi.org/10.1521/prev.2020.107.1.84PDFPDF PLUS ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations About Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 107Issue 1Feb 2020 Information© 2020 N.P.A.P.PDF download

Introduction: “The History of the William Alanson White Institute” by Clara Thompson

Clara Mabel Thompson, M.D.The Lotte Jacobi Collection, University of New Hampshire. Used with permissionFirst page of the typewritten version of “The History of the William Alanson White Institute....

The History of the William Alanson White Institute

March 15, 1955 for the Harry Stack Sullivan SocietyIntroduction: Our speaker this evening is Dr. Clara Thompson, who is the Executive Director of the William Alanson White Institute, and who needs ...

On Finding Clara Thompson

In reading the “History of the William Alanson White Institute,” delivered by Clara Thompson in 1955, I felt a deep sense of gratitude to Donnel Stern for bringing us the voice of a treasured found...

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: Discussion of “When Harry Met Jimmie”

The author discusses Kathleen Meigs’ “When Harry Met Jimmie” from the perspective of a graduate of the William Alanson White Institute, of which Harry Stack Sullivan was a cofounder. During the time of the author’s training at White (1988–1992), discussions of Sullivan’s homosexuality seemed more discomforting to faculty than talking about his early psychosis. These attitudes partially reflected Sullivan’s own lack of self-acceptance. Although Sullivan was known to be “homosexual” by many, he was not “out and proud.” Given Sullivan’s own attitudes about being gay, it is not surprising that his theories about dissociative processes offer insights into the psychology of being in the closet. The author questions conclusions about the Harry/Jimmie relationship as one skeptical of efforts by psychohistorians and psychoanalysts presenting “archeological” histories as if some factual, hidden truths can be uncovered. From the constructivist perspective, a narrative truth, no matter how deeply felt or believed, is not necessarily what actually happened. The author repeats the analytic dicta to mind one’s own biases and hold one’s theories lightly.

The Same Fish

This paper represents and attempts to describe psychoanalytically informed work applied in a school setting with children with special needs. While many therapists at the Parkside School are trained in analytic techniques and principles, these ideas have not traditionally been applied to children with language-based learning difficulties. Over the years, we have found that analytic ideas such as transference, countertransference, projective identification, containment, and attachment are especially salient to our understanding of these very complex children. Despite being in a school--a nontraditional setting for psychoanalysis--children are seen in individual and group therapy, often more than once a week. We believe that therapeutic relationships and play (sometimes bringing a child to a place of being able to play) are especially mutative with children with language-based learning challenges. Play and relationship provide a holding environment that, over time, allows for the reorganization of a child's often immature developmental capacities into a sense of agency that captures more clearly a child's innate potential. This article includes case studies of children with complex language-based learning difficulties, including autism spectrum disorders.

The Space Between

In the world of education the emotional life of the child has come in and out of focus. Psychoanalytic ideas and principles, including an emphasis on the individual, unconscious motivations, attachments, transferences, disavowed intentions, and feelings defended against, are in full operation within school settings. More recent developments in social-emotional skill promotion in schools and the emphasis on instilling skills such as perseverance and self-control have aims similar to psychoanalytic ideas of healthy ego functioning but use a more direct, didactic approach. We propose that the psychoanalytic school consultant can help bridge the gap between our wish to instill values and skills and some of the obstacles the individual student and school community might face. Through two case examples, one of a latency-age boy who struggled with aggressive impulses, and the other an adolescent caught in a "sexting" scandal, we delineate how the consultant using a psychoanalytic lens can intervene with the students, parents, faculty, and administration to facilitate the type of growth and education desired.

Systematic Research Supporting Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Treatments

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsRebecca Coleman CurtisRebecca Coleman Curtis, Ph.D., is professor of psychology, Adelphi University, and faculty and supervisor, William Alanson White Institute. She is author of Desire, Self, Mind, and the Psychotherapies: Unifying Psychological Science and Psychoanalysis (2009). Editor of Self-Defeating Behaviors (1989) and The Relational Self (1991) and co-editor of Taboo or Not Taboo in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy: Forbidden Thoughts, Forbidden Acts (2009), How People Change (1991), On Deaths and Endings: Psychoanalysts’ Reflections on Finality, Transformations, and New Beginnings (Gradiva Award Winner 2008), On Loneliness and Longing (2011), and Understanding and Coping with Failure (2014). Dr. Curtis has published over 50 articles, chapters, and reviews, given over 100 presentations in North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe, and appeared on eight television shows. Dr. Curtis works on the integration of clinical psychology, psychoanalysis, and scientific psychology.

Philip, Me, and Not Me: A Personal and Professional Introduction to the Special Issue Celebrating the Work of Philip Bromberg

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsDonnel B. SternDonnel B. Stern, Ph.D. is training and supervising analyst, faculty, and fellow, William Alanson White Institute; and adjunct clinical professor and consultant, New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. He is the author of Unformulated Experience: From Dissociation to Imagination in Psychoanalysis (1997) and Partners in Thought: Working with Unformulated Experience, Dissociation and Enactment (2010).

A Sea Change in Psychoanalysis

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image sizeKeywords: Object RelationsPsychoanalytic theorytransferenceInterpersonalStephen MitchellEdgar Levenson Additional informationNotes on contributorsPasqual J. PantonePasqual J. Pantone, Ph.D., is director of clinical education, and a fellow and training, supervising analyst, and a member of the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Division, William Alanson White Institute; supervisor, faculty, former co-director, and co-founder of the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program, William Alanson White Institute; and is co-author of Relational Child Psychotherapy (Other Press, 2002).

Recollections of Greenberg and Mitchell

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image sizeKeywords: Jay GreenbergSteven MitchellWilliam Alanson White InstituteInterpersonal psychoanalysisHarry Stack Sullivanobject relations Additional informationNotes on contributorsMiltiades ZaphiropoulosMiltiades L. Zaphiropoulos, M.D., received his M.D. at the University of Paris in 1939, and his Certificate in Psychoanalysis from the William Alanson White Institute in 1951. He is currently an Emeritus faculty member, Emeritus Training Analyst, and Supervising Analyst in the White Institute's psychoanalytic training program, where he has served for the past 51 years. He has received the William V. Silverberg Award from the American Academy of Psychoanalysis; as well as the Edith S. Alt Distinguished Service Award and the Director's Award, both from the White Institute; and the Myer D. Mendelson, M.D. Award from the William Alanson White Psychoanalytic Society. He is a member of the editorial boards of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Dialogues, and Dynamic Psychiatry (The Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry).

Greenberg and Mitchell's Contribution to a Seismic Shift in Psychoanalysis

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image sizeKeywords: Object RelationsInterpersonal psychoanalysisFreudianRelationalinstitutional politics Additional informationNotes on contributorsRuth ImberRuth Imber, Ph.D., is a fellow, and training and supervising analyst at the William Alanson White Institute where she teaches the course on contemporary Freudian theory and technique. She is on the Editorial Board of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and the guest coeditor of this issue. She is in private practice in New York City.

Jay Greenberg and Steve Mitchell

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image sizeKeywords: Jay GreenbergInterpersonal psychoanalysisStephen MitchellRelational psychoanalysisObject RelationstheoryWilliam Alanson White Institute Additional informationNotes on contributorsJack DrescherJack Drescher, M.D., is a training and supervising analyst, William Alanson White Institute, and Editor Emeritus, Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health.

Stumbling Along and Hanging In: If This Be Technique, Make the Most of It!

Certain tasks, including many that involve an interaction with another person, require individual mastery of some technical skill and require that this skill be incorporated within relational spontaneity—a fact that has provided psychoanalytic support for the classical concept of technique because it is well understood that technique alone is not enough and that the human relationship matters equally. I offer an Interpersonal/Relational viewpoint that in the psychoanalytic relationship, the skill that an analyst must bring to it is not acquired through learned technique, nor is it applied. The process of self growth in psychoanalysis is inherently relational and not brought about through the relationship between patient and analyst; rather, it embodies the relationship and takes place within it. I describe a treatment context in which the analyst's professional role is subsumed within a shared personal field, and that what is meant by “a royal road to the unconscious” is the joint creation of a relational unconscious that is mediated by state-sharing—a process in which analyst and patient gradually are able to invite increased permeability between their respective self-state boundaries. I submit that to continue labeling what we do as technique slows the natural evolution of psychoanalysis, both clinically and as a body of theory. Philip M. Bromberg is a Training and Supervising Analyst, William Alanson White Institute, New York City, and Clinical Professor of Psychology, New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis.

Alfred M Freedman

Alfred M Freedman was an enthusiastic psychiatric educator and community leader willing to challenge public perceptions and prejudices. He received his MD from the University of Minnesota in 1941, served a stint in Army service when he studied the effects of anticholinergic drugs with Harold Himwich, served residencies in child psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital in New York with Lauretta Bender, and graduated from the William Alanson White Institute of Psychoanalysis. He took on the chairmanship of the Department of Psychiatry at New York Medical College in 1960. It was from this base that he levered the psychiatric world from its self-centered Freudian enthusiasm to caring for the less favored—the homosexual, the addicted, women, and the imprisoned (Freedman, 2000). Owing to lack of adequate clinical facilities and finding that the Federal government was supporting new psychiatric treatment facilities, he organized the first Community Mental Health Center in New York City. When a crisis in marijuana and heroin abuse challenged New York City, he established a drug addiction unit for adults at the Metropolitan Hospital, followed quickly by a second for adolescents. He broadened the medical school psychiatric teaching program to all four years. Seeing the need for an eclectic textbook, he developed the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, a work that has been repeatedly updated and translated into many languages. He added a flexible program for women psychiatrists to the residency training to assure their Board certification in whatever period of time required by family issues. His activity in psychiatric organizations quickly led to the presidencies of the American Psychopathological Association in 1971, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology in 1972, and the American Psychiatric Association in 1973. During his APA tenure he supported gay-rights efforts to destigmatize homosexuality as a mental disease. He led the APA Trustees to exclude homosexuality as a psychiatric disease in the nomenclature. He established narcotic detoxification and methadone substitution programs and encouraged the search for effective narcotic antagonists. Assays of cyclazocine, naloxone naltrexone, and LAAM showed the limitations of these approaches, but the demonstration that naloxone was quickly effective in relieving an opiate stupor led to its widespread adoption as the standard treatment in emergency rooms. When the narcotic crisis in New York encompassed cannabis, he organized a cross-national study of cannabis and hashish in Athens, finding that hashish use induced tolerance and dependence, but neither the connection to psychosis nor to brain damage by EEG and neuropsychologic tests could be confirmed. His interests were international. He became an active member of the CINP in 1960. At the APA he organized a visit to the Soviet Union to examine allegations that dissidents were incarcerated in psychiatric hospitals and treated with antipsychotic drugs. At the College he established an annual lectureship for leading international psychiatrists. After Fritz Freyhan died, he became a member of the jury of the Anna Monika Foundation. In these international efforts he was strongly encouraged by his wife Marcia, a labor economist. He retired from the New York Medical College in 1988, and instead of assuming the role of senior citizen he turned his attention to the role of psychiatry in death-penalty cases. He sought to prevent psychiatrists from testifying to the sanity of prisoners or to prescribing drugs to normalize psychosis so that they could be executed. On his death he left his wife Marcia of age 68 years, two sons, and three grandchildren (Grimes, 2011).

In Memoriam: Saul Scheildlinger, MS, PhD 1918-2010

GROUP, Vol. 35, No.i,March 2011 In Memoriam: Saul Scheildlinger, MS, PhD 1918-2010 Howard D. Kibel1,2and Seth Aronson3 On August21,Saul Scheidlinger, husbandofRosalynTauberScheidlinger, died peacefully atMountSinaiHospital inNewYork City. Saulwasthe18th president of theAmerican GroupPsychotherapy Association (AGPA;1982-1984) andthethird editor oftheInternational Journal ofGroup Psychotherapy (1970-1980). In1985, he became thesixth person tobeelected toDistinguished Fellowship inAGPA.In1988, a testimonial dinner-dance washeldattheannualconference tohonorhis40-year history ofoutstanding contributions tothefield. A Festschrift inhishonor, edited bySaulTuttman, MD, PhD,waspublished in1991. Saulwasa Professor Emeritus ofPsychiatry attheAlbert Einstein Collegeof Medicine andanadjunct professor ofclinical psychology inpsychiatry attheWeill MedicalCollegeofCornellUniversity. He wasa LifeFellowofboththeAmerican Psychological Association andtheAmerican Orthopsychiatric Association. Saulwasbornina small town inwestern Poland. Early on,helearned anadaptive technique toavoidphysical andmental abusebyhisanti-Semitic schoolmates. He helpedsomeofthebullieswiththeir studies togainprotection from theabusehe would haveotherwise received (Fenchel, 1983). In1938, attheageof20,Saulemigrated from Polandandarrived inBrooklyn tostay with relatives whomhehadnever met andwhowere shocked tolearn that heintended togotocollege, particularly sincehe didnotspeaka wordofEnglish. Yet, twoyears later, heentered CityCollege, from which hegraduated magnacumlaudeandPhiBetaKappawith four tophonors in 1 The authors would like tothank Gloria Batkin Kahn, EdD, ABPP, CGP, for her help inthe preparation of this manuscript. 2 Clinical Professor ofPsychiatry, New York Medical College, Valhalla, andAdjunct Clinical Professor ofPsychiatry, Weill Medical College ofCornell University, White Plains, New York. Correspondence should beaddressed toHoward D.Kibel, MD,CGP, DFAGPA, 503 Grasslands Road, Suite 104, Valhalla, NY10595-1503. E-mail: hkibel@pol.net. 3 Fellow, Training and Supervising Analyst, William Alanson White Institute, New York. ISSN 0362-4021©2011 Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society 59 6o KIBELANDARONSON Saul Scheidlinger hisclass.Hewent ontoobtain a master sdegree attheColumbiaUniversity School ofSocialWork in1944anda doctorate atNewYork University in1951. Saul'sfamily oforigin perished intheHolocaust. Asthesolesurvivor, hecarried with hima tradition fostered byhistwooldersisters. They hadbeenvery active in theZionist youth movement inPolandandfrequently tookhimtotheir meetings. Helookeduptohissisters, whobecamehisrolemodels. Whenhewasoldenough, hejoinedtheZionist youth movement andeventually becametheleaderofa group ofover100members, ranging inagefrom 8 to18years. He later recalled hisadolescence as amongthehappiest times ofhislife. Thus,early on,Saulwasdrawn to groups, wasa member ofa group, andeventually becamea leadertowhomothers lookedwithadmiration. Hisprofessional life paralleled theseearly experiences. Whileworking onhismaster sdegree attheColumbia SchoolofSocialWork, he metSamuelR.Slavsonduring a field placement attheJewish BoardofGuardians (JBG), which, atthetime, wasa famous childguidance clinic. Slavson, thefounder ofAGPAand,bysomeaccounts, thefather ofAmerican group psychotherapy, took Saulunderhiswing.In September 1944,underSlavsonssupervision, Saulstarted hisfirst group oflatency-aged boys.Within twoyears, hebecamea supervisor, had administrative responsibilities, accompanied Slavson tohisfrequent on-site seminars atlocalagencies, andbecameassistant director ofgrouptherapy attheJBG. Duringsummer 1944, Saulworked with hislatewife, LucyPrince,2 alsoa social worker, asa counselor ata therapeutic campfor emotionally disturbed boys. Together they wrote what proved tobehisfirst paperongroup therapy, drawn from that experience . Hissecondpaperfocused ontheinternational BoyScoutmovement, drawn from hisexperiences as a leaderofthat Zionistscoutorganization inPoland. Saulleft theJBG in1948topursue hisdoctorate inpsychology. Hisdissertation 2 Their son David J. Scheidlinger, MD,of SanDiego, isapsychiatrist. InMemoriam: SaulScheidlinger 6i for thedegree becamethebasisfor hisfirst book,Psychoanalysis andGroup Behavior ; published in1952. Upuntil then, thedominant thinking inAmerican group psychotherapy , ledbySlavson andAlexander Wolf, wasthat group psychotherapy consisted ofthetreatment ofindividuals in a groupsetting, eschewing theimportance of groupdynamics. Despitecriticism from manyquarters, Saulcontinued tolecture andwrite abouttheimportance ofthegroup-as-a-whole intreatment. Thiswasa radical departure from conventional thinking intheUnited States and,particularly, from thethinking ofhismentor, Slavson. However, Saulreceived theoretical support from aneminent British colleague, S.H. Foulkes. SoonsomeAmerican colleagues stoodinhiscamp, notably HelenDurkin andLeonard Horwitz (Kibel, 2004).From theperspective oftoday, thiswouldnotseemrevolutionary, butatthat timeitwas. In1952, Saulbecamedirector oftheCommunity Service Society inupperManhattan , where heremained for 23years. Working there with severely ego-disturbed youngsters, Saulrealized that thenondirective, nonverbal approach hehadlearned from Slavsonwasnotapplicable tothisclientele. He developed structured groups andlearned howtouseverbal interventions effectively. Fromthisexperience with markedly impaired personalities, he developedhistheoretical concepts, notably that ofthemother-group. In 1962, hewasinvited tojointheDivisionofSocialand Community Psychiatry attheAlbert Einstein CollegeofMedicineintheBronx. He alsotaught attheColumbiaUniversity SchoolofSocialWork andtheSchoolof Education oftheCity CollegeofNewYork. Forfour years, hebecamea commuting consultant totheJudge BakerChildGuidanceCenter inBoston, where hetrained clinicians andsupervisors wholater becameleadersinthefield ofgroupwork. In themid-1960s, as partofhisworkattheEinstein CollegeofMedicine, he joinedtheso-calledLincolnBrigade attheCommunity MentalHealthCenter of LincolnHospital(1963-1977)» whichconsisted ofa groupofdedicated, liberalthinking clinicians, suchas HarrisPeck,MelvinRoman,and Seymour Kaplan, whobrought community psychiatry tothesouthBronx. There heproduced three educational films, twoforadolescents andonefor humanservice workers, which demonstrated theapplication ofgroupprocessin a nonclinical setting. In these films, heexpanded hisviewthat clinically informed group theory couldbeapplied ina variety ofwaystomyriad settings. In 1970,he assumedtheeditorship oftheInternational Journal ofGroup Psychotherapy . Duringhis10years atthehelm, hetookthejournalfrom a provincial, clinically oriented onewith a smallreadership toa preeminent international journal inthefield witha readership of5,000andexpandeditsscopetoincluderesearch. In1975, Saulbecamea full-time faculty member...