Revolution in the Air: Changing Psychoanalytic Theory from 1966 to 1969

This paper examines four major shifts in psychoanalytic theory occurring between the years 1966 and 1969. These include, an important shift from epistemological to ontological approaches in psychoanalysis, new theories of the setting, an expansion of the use of the analyst as an actual object and major revisions in the theory of the complex motivational properties of aggression and defense. These shifts also related to the development of a widening scope of patients for psychoanalytic treatment and shifting ways of theorizing interpretive responsiveness. The author addresses the implications of how the theoretical work during these years continues to generate meaningful clinical and theoretical contributions to contemporary psychoanalysis. He emphasizes that the complex relationship between epistemological and ontological theoretical models and approaches to interpretation are just beginning to be elaborated. He engages in a postpluralistic analysis which finds value in considering how different theories explore overlapping clinical problems and the nature of psychoanalysis itself.