Beyond the Symbiotic Orbit

In this tribute to Selma Kramer, eminent child analyst and colleague and close friend of the late Margaret Mahler, senior analysts explore the continuing relevance of Mahler's separation-individuation theory to developmental and clinical issues. Editors Salman Akhtar and Henri Parens have grouped the original contributions to Beyond the Symbiotic Orbit into sections that reevaluate Mahler's theory.
Section I is a timely reassessment of Mahler's working model from the standpoint of contemporary clinical and research findings. It includes comparisons of Mahler with Winnicott and Kohut, and commentaries on the status of separation-individuation theory in relation to psychosexual theory, early ego development, and observational infancy research. Section II addresses the contribution of separation-individuation theory to our understanding of pathogenesis. Neurosis, severe character pathology, psychosomatic phenomena, eating disorders, and sexual perversions are among the topics of specific chapters. The final section explores the role of separation-individuation theory in the treatment of analysands of different ages and with different kinds of psychopathology; it also considers separation-individuation theory with respect to specific aspects of the treatment process, including reconstruction, transference, and termination.
A fresh reappraisal of a major perspective on early development, Beyond the Symbiotic Orbit is a fitting testimonial to Selma Kramer, who has played so important a role in elaborating Mahler's theory. Following from Kramer's own example, the contributors show how separation-individuation theory, in its ability to accomodate ongoing clinical and research findings, is subject to continuing growth and refinement. They not only advance our understanding of Mahler's working model, but pursue the implications of this model in new directions, underscoring the many areas of exploration that separation-individuation theory opens to us.

Salman Akhtar, M.D., is a faculty member of the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute, and Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University. He is editor of New Psychiatric Syndromes: DSM-III and Beyond (1983) and coeditor of The Trauma of Transgression (1991). Henri Parens, M.D., is Training and Supervising Analyst, Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute, and Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University. He is author of Dependence in Man (1971) and The Development of Aggression in Early Childhood (1979) and coauthor of Aggression in Our Children (1987).

Introduction, Akhtar, Parens The Prelude, or Growth of an Analyst's Mind, Rudolph, Madow, Byerly Publications of Selma Kramer, M.D. I. Separation-Individuation Theory: Contrast, Comparison, and Update 1. Separation-Individuation Theory and the Psychosexual Theory, Parens 2. Mahler and Winnicott: Some Parallels in Their Lives and Works, Wolman 3. Mahler, Kohut, and Classical Analysts: Theoretical and Clinical Considerations, Shane, Shane 4. The Stages of Ego Development: Implications for Childhood and Adult Psychopathology, Greenspan 5. Some Comments on Early Development, Kernberg 6. Contemporary Infant Research and the Separation-Individuation Theory of Margaret S. Mahler, Nachman II. Psychopathology as Understood in the Light of Separation-Individuation Theory 7. Contributions of Separation-Individuation Theory to the Understanding of Psychopathology During the Prelatency Years, McDevitt 8. Transformations in Normal and Pathological Latency, Glenn 9. Separation-Individuation and Adolescence with Special Reference to Character Formation, Leaff 10. Adolescence, Sex and Neurosogenisis: A Clinical Perspective, Fisher, Fisher 11. Neurosis and Separation-Individuation Theory, Burland 12. Psychosomatic Phenomena, Thompson II 13. Three Fantasies Related to Unresolved Separation-Individuation: A Less Recognized Aspect of Severe Character Pathology, Akhtar 14. Dyadic Psychopathology and Infantile Eating Disorder: Psychoanalytic Study and Inferences, Blum 15. Form and Function in Sexual Perversion: A Contribuiton to the Problem of "Choice" of Perversion, Socarides III. Treatment Implications 16. Treatment of Psychological Disorders of Early Childhood: A Tripartite Therapeutic Model, Galenson 17. Construction and Reconstruction: Semantics and Dynamics, Frank 18. On the Treatment of Preoedipal Pathology, Settlage 19. Treatment Implications of Separation-Individuation Theory in the analysis of Young Adults, Escoll 20. Termination and Separation-Individuation, Pulve