The interpersonal and Freudian traditions: Convergences and divergences

The traditional Freudian and interpersonal schools of psychoanalysis diverg ed during the psychoanalytic wars in New York in the 1940s. Each has develo ped from a different set of assumptions concerning the mind, especially the role of structure and the role of interaction. Recent developments in both schools in the last twenty years suggest a convergence and overlap in theo ry and technique. The relevant history of the divergence is examined and th e work of three contemporary interpersonal writers explored in depth. That work is contrasted with contemporary developments in traditional Freudian p sychoanalysis.