This paper recounts the author’s experience attempting to change the policy of the American Psych... more This paper recounts the author’s experience attempting to change the policy of the American Psychological Association (APA) that allows the participation of its members in Guantanamo Bay and similar detention centers. The efforts of the Division of Psychoanalysis and other divisions of the APA to oppose any such involvement are described as well as the reaction of the APA leadership to these efforts. The author speculates on the reason for the persistence of the APA governance in protecting the employment of psychologists as consultants to coercive interrogations.
It is argued that Freud's influence on contemporary technique is best seen by separating Freud as... more It is argued that Freud's influence on contemporary technique is best seen by separating Freud as a hermeneuticist from Freud as a natural scientist. Freud's hermeneutic work is elucidated by a depiction of his earliest model of technique and its application in The Interpretation of Dreams. The division of the latter work into the first 6 chapters as a hermeneutic and the last chapter as a metapsychology is used to show not only the split but the conflict in Freud between his hermeneutic of the mind and his attempt to found psychoanalysis as a natural science. It is shown that the shift in analytic thinking from the primacy of drives to the growth and transformation of the self has maintained interpretation as a necessary, although insufficient, condition for the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis and that interpretation continues to bear the stamp of Freud's hermeneutic of the mind.
The thesis is that sexual relations between patient and therapist are not best described by the c... more The thesis is that sexual relations between patient and therapist are not best described by the concept of boundary violations. In fact, boundary violations typically do not result in the pain and trauma that is so characteristic of sexual relationships between patient and therapist. It is argued th
The relationship between psychiatric chronldty and schizophrenia in the postacute phase was exami... more The relationship between psychiatric chronldty and schizophrenia in the postacute phase was examined by comparing posthospitalized chronic schizophrenics and chronic nonschlzophrenics on symptoms, social functioning, and recidivism. No differences were found between the groups on any of these variables, indicating a general similarity of clinical picture for chronic schizophrenics and chronic nonschizophrenlcs in the postacute phase. These results were contrasted with two other comparisons made irrespective of diagnosis: (1) Patients with better social functioning were compared to patients performing less well socially; (2) patients living with others were compared with patients living in Isolated settings. In both these comparisons, significant differences in the clinical picture were found between the two groups. Thus, living situation and degree of social functioning both appear to have more relevance for the postacute phase than does diagnosis. These results were related to the genetic and outcome literature on chronic psychiatric disorder to advance the view that the diagnosis of chronidty is more crucial for the understanding of severe emotional disorders than the traditional symptom-based DSM-I11 classification system. Recent evidence has suggested that a sizable portion of the chronic psychiatric patient population is nonschizophrenic (Summers 1979a; Green and Koprowski 1981). Such findings raise the question of to what degree there is similarity and/or difference between the course of schizophrenic 1 and chronic nonschizophrenic psychopathology. It is evident that schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic chronic patients differ in acute clinical picture, but given that both groups are chronic, the question arises as to whether these differences persist into the postacute phase and long-term course. There is evidence that posthospitalized schizophrenics do not fare as well as posthospitalized nonschizophrenics (Harrow et al. 1978). However, such evidence is based upon comparisons between schizophrenics and a heterogeneous group of nonschizophrenics, both chronic and acute. Little is known regarding the comparability of chronic schizophrenics and chronic nonschizophrenics in the postacute phase and over the long-term course. One study that did compare two such groups found little difference between them (Summers 1981). The issue is further complicated by the work of Strauss and Carpenter (1972, 1974b, 1977), who found that schizophrenia is a disorder with a heterogeneous prognosis and that the same variables which predict outcome for schizophrenics do so for other chronic patients. It is not clear from their studies that the course of schizophrenia is different from that of chronic nonschizophrenic psychopathology. This is not to say that chronic schizophrenics do not differ from other patients. The aim of the current study is to compare the postacute functioning of chronic schizophrenics with that of the subgroup of other patients who are also chronic. This purpose is achieved by means of a systematic assessment of schizophrenic and chronic nonschizophrenic psychiatric patients in the postacute phase on symptoms, social functioning, and recidivism. While such a comparison does not address the Reprint requests should be sent to Dr.
The thesis of this article is that a decisive shift has occurred in analytic aim from dynamic and... more The thesis of this article is that a decisive shift has occurred in analytic aim from dynamic and form "normativity," or preconceived psychic outcome, to an open-ended process, the result of which is not foreseen. This shift in analytic theory and technique is related to the transformation in the humanities in the early 19th century from neoclassicism to the Romantic Movement. In opposition to the neoclassical ideal for art and life as the Greek and Roman forms, the romantic theorists and poets found such a preconceived ideal as stifling of human potential, passion, and creativity. Analogously, psychoanalysis has moved from a theory aiming at a preconceived outcome defined as psychic structure to an open-ended view that defines the process by a method of inquiry for the realization of latent and inhibited psychic capacities. Just as the Romantics saw the highest good as Bildung, or the actualization of self potential, so the focus of contemporary psychoanalysis is on the realization of the uniqueness of the self rather than the establishment of a given psychic form. This interpretation of analysis is contrasted to "wild analysis," which is atypically characterized as the imposition of psychic form on the analytic process. The proposed concept of analysis as an analogue of the Romantic interpretation of the human condition has specific technical implications focusing on the creation of new ways of being and relating. A clinical case is presented to show the concrete implications of this Romantic view of analysis.
International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 2017
However, the opposition never went away, and one of the intrepid APA critics, Dan Aalbers, (see B... more However, the opposition never went away, and one of the intrepid APA critics, Dan Aalbers, (see Bernstein, this issue) led a petition to achieve the same goal as was intended by Altman's resolution. The project achieved its goal of obtaining 900 signatures, the number needed to get the petition on the ballot, in a matter of days. Over the objections of the APA staff and leadership, the 2009 referendum passed by roughly 60 to 40 percent. According to the bylaws, the petition resolution to ban psychologists from working in sites that violate US or international law became the official policy of the APA. After successfully ensuring that the APA would support the DoD policy on interrogations for five years, APA staff was finally defeated by the referendum, and the official APA policy was now in direct conflict with military policy.
Abstract 1. This article reports a study of a newly created instrument designed specifically for ... more Abstract 1. This article reports a study of a newly created instrument designed specifically for the measurement of object relations concepts. The Comprehensive Object Relations Profile (CORP) is a semistructured projective test that asks the subject to respond to specific ...
This paper recounts the author’s experience attempting to change the policy of the American Psych... more This paper recounts the author’s experience attempting to change the policy of the American Psychological Association (APA) that allows the participation of its members in Guantanamo Bay and similar detention centers. The efforts of the Division of Psychoanalysis and other divisions of the APA to oppose any such involvement are described as well as the reaction of the APA leadership to these efforts. The author speculates on the reason for the persistence of the APA governance in protecting the employment of psychologists as consultants to coercive interrogations.
It is argued that Freud's influence on contemporary technique is best seen by separating Freud as... more It is argued that Freud's influence on contemporary technique is best seen by separating Freud as a hermeneuticist from Freud as a natural scientist. Freud's hermeneutic work is elucidated by a depiction of his earliest model of technique and its application in The Interpretation of Dreams. The division of the latter work into the first 6 chapters as a hermeneutic and the last chapter as a metapsychology is used to show not only the split but the conflict in Freud between his hermeneutic of the mind and his attempt to found psychoanalysis as a natural science. It is shown that the shift in analytic thinking from the primacy of drives to the growth and transformation of the self has maintained interpretation as a necessary, although insufficient, condition for the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis and that interpretation continues to bear the stamp of Freud's hermeneutic of the mind.
The thesis is that sexual relations between patient and therapist are not best described by the c... more The thesis is that sexual relations between patient and therapist are not best described by the concept of boundary violations. In fact, boundary violations typically do not result in the pain and trauma that is so characteristic of sexual relationships between patient and therapist. It is argued th
The relationship between psychiatric chronldty and schizophrenia in the postacute phase was exami... more The relationship between psychiatric chronldty and schizophrenia in the postacute phase was examined by comparing posthospitalized chronic schizophrenics and chronic nonschlzophrenics on symptoms, social functioning, and recidivism. No differences were found between the groups on any of these variables, indicating a general similarity of clinical picture for chronic schizophrenics and chronic nonschizophrenlcs in the postacute phase. These results were contrasted with two other comparisons made irrespective of diagnosis: (1) Patients with better social functioning were compared to patients performing less well socially; (2) patients living with others were compared with patients living in Isolated settings. In both these comparisons, significant differences in the clinical picture were found between the two groups. Thus, living situation and degree of social functioning both appear to have more relevance for the postacute phase than does diagnosis. These results were related to the genetic and outcome literature on chronic psychiatric disorder to advance the view that the diagnosis of chronidty is more crucial for the understanding of severe emotional disorders than the traditional symptom-based DSM-I11 classification system. Recent evidence has suggested that a sizable portion of the chronic psychiatric patient population is nonschizophrenic (Summers 1979a; Green and Koprowski 1981). Such findings raise the question of to what degree there is similarity and/or difference between the course of schizophrenic 1 and chronic nonschizophrenic psychopathology. It is evident that schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic chronic patients differ in acute clinical picture, but given that both groups are chronic, the question arises as to whether these differences persist into the postacute phase and long-term course. There is evidence that posthospitalized schizophrenics do not fare as well as posthospitalized nonschizophrenics (Harrow et al. 1978). However, such evidence is based upon comparisons between schizophrenics and a heterogeneous group of nonschizophrenics, both chronic and acute. Little is known regarding the comparability of chronic schizophrenics and chronic nonschizophrenics in the postacute phase and over the long-term course. One study that did compare two such groups found little difference between them (Summers 1981). The issue is further complicated by the work of Strauss and Carpenter (1972, 1974b, 1977), who found that schizophrenia is a disorder with a heterogeneous prognosis and that the same variables which predict outcome for schizophrenics do so for other chronic patients. It is not clear from their studies that the course of schizophrenia is different from that of chronic nonschizophrenic psychopathology. This is not to say that chronic schizophrenics do not differ from other patients. The aim of the current study is to compare the postacute functioning of chronic schizophrenics with that of the subgroup of other patients who are also chronic. This purpose is achieved by means of a systematic assessment of schizophrenic and chronic nonschizophrenic psychiatric patients in the postacute phase on symptoms, social functioning, and recidivism. While such a comparison does not address the Reprint requests should be sent to Dr.
The thesis of this article is that a decisive shift has occurred in analytic aim from dynamic and... more The thesis of this article is that a decisive shift has occurred in analytic aim from dynamic and form "normativity," or preconceived psychic outcome, to an open-ended process, the result of which is not foreseen. This shift in analytic theory and technique is related to the transformation in the humanities in the early 19th century from neoclassicism to the Romantic Movement. In opposition to the neoclassical ideal for art and life as the Greek and Roman forms, the romantic theorists and poets found such a preconceived ideal as stifling of human potential, passion, and creativity. Analogously, psychoanalysis has moved from a theory aiming at a preconceived outcome defined as psychic structure to an open-ended view that defines the process by a method of inquiry for the realization of latent and inhibited psychic capacities. Just as the Romantics saw the highest good as Bildung, or the actualization of self potential, so the focus of contemporary psychoanalysis is on the realization of the uniqueness of the self rather than the establishment of a given psychic form. This interpretation of analysis is contrasted to "wild analysis," which is atypically characterized as the imposition of psychic form on the analytic process. The proposed concept of analysis as an analogue of the Romantic interpretation of the human condition has specific technical implications focusing on the creation of new ways of being and relating. A clinical case is presented to show the concrete implications of this Romantic view of analysis.
International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 2017
However, the opposition never went away, and one of the intrepid APA critics, Dan Aalbers, (see B... more However, the opposition never went away, and one of the intrepid APA critics, Dan Aalbers, (see Bernstein, this issue) led a petition to achieve the same goal as was intended by Altman's resolution. The project achieved its goal of obtaining 900 signatures, the number needed to get the petition on the ballot, in a matter of days. Over the objections of the APA staff and leadership, the 2009 referendum passed by roughly 60 to 40 percent. According to the bylaws, the petition resolution to ban psychologists from working in sites that violate US or international law became the official policy of the APA. After successfully ensuring that the APA would support the DoD policy on interrogations for five years, APA staff was finally defeated by the referendum, and the official APA policy was now in direct conflict with military policy.
Abstract 1. This article reports a study of a newly created instrument designed specifically for ... more Abstract 1. This article reports a study of a newly created instrument designed specifically for the measurement of object relations concepts. The Comprehensive Object Relations Profile (CORP) is a semistructured projective test that asks the subject to respond to specific ...
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Papers by Frank Summers