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The dynamics of the larger society inevitably are manifest in intrapsychic dynamics, as well as interpersonal interactions, in and out of the psychoanalytic consulting room. Traditional psychoanalytic inattention to the social world predisposes analysts to enact unreflectively some of the racist and classist patterns in the social world around us in our clinical work. This author argues first that U.S. psychoanalysis, as a field, has sought to define itself as white, thereby demonstrating the influence of racism in this country. Second, in a clinical example, the author demonstrates the subtle imprint of racism and classism in a dyad in which both participants are conventionally classified as white. He concludes that open discussion of U.S. history and of the past and current social location of psychoanalysis as a field goes hand in hand with increased awareness of the ways in which social forces organize psychoanalytic interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I outline some of the ways in which I believe the psychoanalytic traditions in North America and in Great Britain are influencing each other. I identify points of convergence and divergence at this moment in the evolution of psychoanalytic theory and technique. I then point out some of the implications of relational perspectives in child psychotherapy as this perspective is developing in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the trauma that was caused by the terrorist attacks in New York in September 11, 2001. Factors contributing to the onset of trauma; Psychological effects of living with long-term terrorism; Focus on the transference-countertransference implications of a patient and an analysts buffered by the same traumatic events; Implications for psychoanalytic practice.

This paper seeks to make meaning of the experience of being white in the United States at this point in history. The self-awareness of white people is limited by a blind spot around the meaning and impact of being white in a multiracial society. Using psychoanalytic and literary methodology, the author seeks to cast light with which to explore this blind spot. Everyday experiences are used to illustrate the widely pervasive impact of race in the lives of white people, and a clinical vignette illustrates how race might show up in a white-on-white psychotherapy. Enactments within this paper are noted when they are evident to the author