Psychoanalytic Participation: Action, Interaction and Integration (Relational Perspectives Books) (Hardcover)

"In this thoughtful and scholarly volume, Frank provides nuanced exploration of the various ways in which analysts' active participation in the therapeutic relationship can lead to important new experiences for their patients. Building on the shift in contemporary psychoanalytic theory toward two-person and relational perspectives, he develops a tightly reasoned, theoretically sophisticated framework that clarifies the manner in which therapist authenticity, self-disclosure, and the use of action-oriented interventions not only lead to change, but work in harmony with - rather than in opposition to - the analytic process. Psychoanalytic Participation is a timely, practical, and wise book that points the way to new dimensions in clinical practice. It deserves to be widely read by therapists of all orientations."

- Jeremy D. Safran, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, New School for Social Research

"Over the last decade, Kenneth Frank has made some of the most valuable and creative contributions to modernizing the theory of psychoanalytic practice. In Psychoanalytic Participation, he extends and integrates these contributions, and emerges with a vision of how the process works that retains the humane and insightful essence of the psychoanalytic approach while transcending the unexamined assumptions that have limited the contributions of many otherwise progressive theorists. Psychoanalytic readers, whatever their theoretical orientation, will find fresh insights into the untapped potential of modern analytic treatment, whereas nonanalytic readers will benefit from a vision of psychoanalysis that is refreshingly different from the caricatures of the past."

- Paul L. Wachtel, Ph.D.

"From Freud's day to the present, psychoanalytic thought has been an enormously fecund source of ideas and inspiration for various sectors of Western culture, including the wide array of psychotherapies practiced today. Yet, for many decades analysts struggled hard to preserve clinical psychoanalysis as a rarefied domain, purer and deeper than other more interventionist therapies of the psyche. This isolating elitism has been an obstacle to generative thought. In Psychoanalytic Participation, Frank makes two major contributions to addressing this problem. First, he presents a theoretical rationale for, and clinical model of, a more participatory, expressive, and self-disclosing role for the psychoanalyst in the process. Second, with a commanding and incisive overview of the paradigm shift from classical to relational psychoanalysis, he demonstrates how the revision of fundamental analytic principles in contemporary psychoanalytic thought makes possible an enriching cross-fertilization with other therapies focused on action techniques. Frank's contribution is aimed at keeping all psychotherapies open and vital. It should be of great interest to clinicians of all persuasions."

- Stephen A. Mitchell, Ph.D., Founding Editor, Psychoanalytic Dialogues