The Possible Profession: The Analytic Process of Change takes a fresh look at the many forms of unconscious communication that take place in the analytic situation. Bringing together two decades of the author’s previous writing as well as a considerable amount of new material, this book addresses a major contemporary issue in the field of psychoanalysis. Unconscious communication in the analytic situation takes many forms. This book explores a number of these pathways as the author has encountered them in clinical work. Including numerous clinical examples, chapters cover a variety of topics with a central focus on: the relationship between the inner worlds of patient and analyst the interplay between these intrapsychic forces how this interaction affects the analytic process and, more specifically, the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis. Written in a clear and concise way this book contributes to a new understanding of familiar material in a way that will be welcomed by teachers, students, and practitioners of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. It will also be of interest to dynamic therapists of all persuasions and academics in various fields interested in psychoanalytic thinking.

The Possible Profession: The Analytic Process of Change takes a fresh look at the many forms of unconscious communication that take place in the analytic situation. Bringing together two decades of the author’s previous writing as well as a considerable amount of new material, this book addresses a major contemporary issue in the field of psychoanalysis. Unconscious communication in the analytic situation takes many forms. This book explores a number of these pathways as the author has encountered them in clinical work. Including numerous clinical examples, chapters cover a variety of topics with a central focus on: the relationship between the inner worlds of patient and analyst the interplay between these intrapsychic forces how this interaction affects the analytic process and, more specifically, the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis. Written in a clear and concise way this book contributes to a new understanding of familiar material in a way that will be welcomed by teachers, students, and practitioners of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. It will also be of interest to dynamic therapists of all persuasions and academics in various fields interested in psychoanalytic thinking.

Seduction, Surrender, and Transformation demonstrates how interpersonal psychoanalysis obliges analysts to engage their patients with genuine emotional responsiveness, so that not only the patient but the analyst too is open to ongoing transformation through the analytic experience. In so doing, the analyst moves from the position of an "interpreting observer" to that of an "active participant and facilitator" whose affective communications enable the patient to acquire basic self-trust along with self-knowledge. Drawing on the current literature on affect, Maroda argues that psychological change occurs through affect-laden interpersonal processes. Given that most patients in psychotherapy have problems with affect management, the completing of cycles of affective communication between therapist and patient becomes a vitally important aspect of the therapeutic enterprise. Through emotionally open responses to their patients and careful use of patient-prompted self-disclosures, analysts can facilitate affect regulation responsibly and constructively, with the emphasis always remaining on the patients' experience. Moments of mutual surrender - the honest emotional giving over of patient to analyst and analyst to patient - epitomize the emotionally intense interpersonal experiences that lead to enduring intrapsychic change. Maroda's work is profoundly personal. She does not hesitate to share with the reader how her own personality affects her thinking and her work. Indeed, she believes her theoretical and clinical preferences are emblematic of the way in which the analyst's subjectivity necessarily shapes theory choice and practice preferences in general. Seduction, Surrender, and Transfomation is not only a powerful brief for emotional honesty in the analytic relationship but also a model of the personal openness that, according to Maroda, psychoanalysis demands of all its practitioners.

Over the past years, knowledge-intensive industries have gained significant importance as economic factor, giving rise to professional service firms (PSFs) such as law firms, accounting firms, or consultancies. Following this development, the research interest especially in the strategies pursued by PSFs has grown substantially. However, past research focused mainly on strategies of established, mature PSFs, leaving academics as well as potential entrepreneurs without guidance on what newly founded, entrepreneurial PSFs should pay attention to in order to ensure lasting competitive advantages. Based on an explorative grounded theory analysis of two outstanding commercial law firm spin-offs in Germany, this work advances the research in this field. In addition to a detailed case study report, it offers a comprehensive theoretical framework and argues that PSFs have to employ a set of seven specific entrepreneurial strategies – including for example service delivery, people development, and client acquisition strategies – in order to successfully manage the entrepreneurial phase. In providing examples for the growing PSF industry, the findings on commercial law firm spin-offs also inform entrepreneurship research in other professions

In this profound and subtle study, a practising psychoanalyst explores the dynamics of the interaction between the patient and the analyst. Michael Feldman draws the reader into experiencing how the clinical interaction unfolds within a session. In doing so, he develops some of the implications of the important pioneering work of such analysts as Klein, Rosenfeld and Joseph, showing in fine detail some of the ways in which the patient feels driven to communicate to the analyst, not only in order to be understood by him, but also in order to affect him. The author's detailed descriptions of the clinical process allow the reader to follow the actual process that enables the patient to get into contact with thoughts and feelings of which he or she was previously unconscious or only vaguely aware. Feldman makes the reader aware of the constant dynamic interaction between the patient and the analyst, each affecting the other. He shows how the analyst has to find a balance between doubt, uncertainty and confusion in himself and through this process may arrive at an understanding of what is happening, and by formulating this understanding the analyst can make a significant contribution to the process of psychic change. This collection of essays not only throws light on fascinating questions of technique, but also reflects on elements that are fundamental to psychoanalytic work. It is essential reading for practising psychoanalysts and those in training, as well as anyone with a general interest in the psychoanalytic relationship between the client and the therapist in the consulting room.

"On Learning from the Patient is concerned with the potential for psychoanalytic thinking to become self-perpetuating. Patrick Casement explores the dynamics of the helping relationship - learning to recognize how patients offer cues to the therapeutic experience that they are unconsciously in search of. Using many telling clinical examples, he illustrates how, through trial identification, he has learned to monitor the implications of his own contributions to a session from the viewpoint of the patient. He shows how, with the aid of this internal supervision, many initial failures to respond appropriately can be remedied and even used to the benefit of the therapeutic work. By learning to better distinguish what helps the therapeutic process from what hinders it, ways are discovered to avoid the circularity of pre-conception by analysts who aim to understand the unconscious of others. From this lively examination of key clinical issues, the author comes to see psychoanalytic therapy as a process of re-discovering theory - and developing a technique that is more specifically related to the individual patient. The dynamics illustrated here, particularly the processes of interactive communication and containment, occur in any helping relationship and are applicable throughout the caring professions. Patrick Casement's unusually frank presentation of his own work, aided by his lucid and non-technical language, allows wide scope for readers to form their own ideas about the approach to technique he describes. This Classic Edition includes a new introduction to the work by Andrew Samuels and, together with its sequel Further Learning from the Patient, will be an invaluable training resource for trainee and practising analysts or therapists."--