INTEGRATION AND ALTERNATIVES - SOME CURRENT ISSUES IN PSYCHOANALYTIC-THEORY

The first great bridge between psychoanalysis and social work came wit h the concepts of ego psychology which provided a synthesis between th e worlds of the social order and the psychological depths. Current psy choanalytic theorists now question whether any one psychological theor y is sufficient to describe the complexity of human experience, and su ggest that each theory has a piece of the truth because it states some thing that is correct about the patient at a particular time in the tr eatment. Adherence to multiple theories makes a complex problem for th e clinical practitioner, who must decide from which perspective to res pond to the clinical material of the moment. Psychoanalytic theorists are also questioning the degree to which it is actually the content of the therapist's interpretations which brings about change in the pati ent. This article suggests that these developments in psychoanalysis, with their emphasis on therapeutic flexibility and the importance of t he relationship will renew and reinvigorate the bridge between psychoa nalysis and clinical social work.