T h e H a r r i s M e l t z e r T r u s t – C l u n i e P r e s s R e p r i n t s The following titles are in process of reprinting: The Psychoanalytical Process (2008) Sexual States of Mind (2008) Explorations in Autism (2008) The Kleinian Development (2008) The Claustrum (2008) The Apprehension of Beauty (new edition, 2008) Studies in Extended Metapsychology (2009) Dream Life (2009)
						To come: Studies in Extended Metapsychology	To come: Dream Life
COVER ENDORSEMENTS: The Psychoanalytical Process This book contains the seeds of all Meltzer’s further thinking. The Kleinian concepts of projective identification and the internal world are expanded by the Meltzerian view of the ‘natural history’ of an analysis, progressing in a sequence of phases that follows the development of primitive object relations. Once the analytic situation has been established, it is possible to sort out geographical and zonal confusions of the infant self in relation to internal objects, to work through depressive anxieties on the threshold of the depressive position and to integrate split off aspects of the self in the weaning process. The reprint of this book ensures it will continue to be a reference text in clinical, technical and psychopathology seminars, as well as a travel companion for those who practice psychoanalysis as a ‘human activity’. Clara Nemas, psychoanalyst, Buenos Aires … an outstanding account of the different and complex phases of the psychoanalytical process. The author manages to ingeniously transmit his own long experience of analyses with children and adults, with the same conviction as that of the artist when his work succeeds in fully reflecting the truthful essence of his vision. Leon Grinberg, Vice-president of the IPA (1968) preface to Spanish edition … an amazing book: clear in its structure, very deep and complex in what it transmits. The formula on one level appears simple: gathering the transference, putting geographical and zonal confusions in order, negotiating the threshold of the depressive position and weaning, applicable to both children and adults and seen in the context of both the individual session and the psychoanalytical process as a whole. However, once immersed in the detail of this book, one discovers in it a truly never-ending source of rich, stimulating suggestions. Miriam Botbol, clinical psychologist, Grupo Psicoanalitico de Barcelona …a seminal masterpiece. The evolution of the transference-countertransference becomes the crux of the analytic method, and the whole of Meltzer’s ensuing work is a further enrichment of this fundamental concept. Gruppo di Studio Racker di Venezia It is clear without being dogmatic; a ‘guide’ by the man who always encouraged us to think for ourselves. Katherine Arnold, child and adult psychotherapist, UK In this keen and lively work Meltzer describes what he liked to call the ‘natural history’ of the analytical process, described in a language as close as possible to the concreteness of the internal world of the child. I now see this first book as the kicking-off point for his historic discovery of the ‘aesthetic conflict’ as formulated twenty years later in his impassioned work The Apprehension of Beauty. Jean Begoin, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Paris Sexual States of Mind At the core of Sexual States of Mind is a powerful new insight that calls for a reassessment of our entire view of human nature. In this work Meltzer sees sexuality not as an appetite, but instead as an aspect of identity that structures the personality itself, manifest in childish, adult, or perverse states of mind. Gruppo di Studio Racker, Venice … a ground-breaking psychoanalytic study on sexuality which maintains its originality today, thirty years after its first publication. The book is a revision of psychoanalytic theory, starting with the work of Freud himself and including Melanie Klein’s contributions on the early Oedipus Complex and the Depressive Position. But more than that, it is a metapsychological study of sexuality which provides a different perspective from more well known ones that relate simply to a descriptive or behavioural point of view. In differentiating adult sexuality from infantile sexuality and polymorphism and perversion, taking unconscious phantasy and the notion of the primal scene as the pivotal point , Meltzer proposes a unified theoretical and clinical model which has proved of particular help in the field of the psychopathology of addictions and perversions. Virginia Ungar, training analyst, Buenos Aires Psychoanalytical Association and Chair of the Child and Adolescent Committee of the IPA. … a major contribution to psychoanalysis. I know of no other work that has brought the relevance of sexuality (pivotal in Freud’s discoveries) to Kleinian analysis in such a clear and significant way, upholding its centrality in both normal development and in various forms of psychopathology. After reviewing the history of sexuality in psychoanalysis and its structural implications, Meltzer’s masterpiece appears in the section on Clinical Sexual Psychopathology. The distinction between adult and infantile sexual states of mind, and between infantile polymorphous and infantile perverse sexuality, makes a unique contribution to the clinical practice of any analyst. The different primal scenes that accord with the different sexual states of mind, the classification of perversions and addictions, the outline of perversion of the transference, and much more, are gems that have changed my work ever since I included them in my toolbox. Robert Oelsner, psychoanalyst, FIPA, Seattle Explorations in Autism Explorations in Autism is a turning-point in both the understanding of and the clinical approach to autism. The clinical material gradually unveils the geography of the internal mother (which proved crucial for the development of Meltzer's ‘claustrum’ theory) and allowed him to draft, for the first time in psycho-analysis, a theory of the dimensionality of mental life. The book, furthermore, is a moving journey through the dynamics of the transference-countertransference, revealing what Meltzer calls ‘the essentials of humanity’. It should be part of the training of every analyst and I believe it would be a revelation to many philosophers of the mind. Carmo di Sousa Lima…Portugal While we accompany the author on his journey (which he says is more like a traveller’s tale than a scientific report) we can clearly perceive how, alongside the rich and evocative clinical descriptions, a complete picture emerges of certain modalities of mental functioning. These modalities observed in autistic children have a more general scope than in psychopathology and even lead us to rethink certain basic concepts in psychoanalysis. The research recorded in this book allowed Meltzer to come into contact with children who were unable to form an object containing a space to be used in their mental development. Later, using conclusions drawn from this work, Meltzer went on to formulate the ‘aesthetic conflict’ in a book which pairs with this one: The Apprehension of Beauty (1988). Virginia Ungar, training analyst, Buenos Aires Psychoanalytical Association and Chair of the Child and Adolescent Committee of the IPA. The rigorous exploration reported in this book has shed a totally new light on the subjective experience of autistic children and hence on the primitive developmental phases of every human mind. A new metapsychological model of the psyche stems from the description here of fundamental concepts like primal depression, dismantling, adhesive identity, dimensionality as a parameter of mental functioning. These concepts refer not so much to a theory of conflict as in classical metapsychology, but rather to a theory of gradient which will lead to Meltzer’s theory of the aesthetic object. This book displays brilliantly the creativity of psychoanalytic work applied to a new psychopathological field, both in helping the patients recover their mental health and also in understanding new layers of the human mind. Didier Houzel, French Psychoanalytical Association and Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Caen Donald Meltzer’s brilliant ‘lessons’ supervising my analysis of a post-autistic boy have increased my psychoanalytical instruments for investigating the transference and countertransference: how to observe emotional and behavioural facts during the session (not only verbalizations), and how to seek out my own dream images in order to carry on with the analysis. Marisa Pelella Melega, psychoanalyst, Brazilian Psychoanalytical Society, Sao Paulo The Kleinian Development Like Borges, who preferred to be remembered as a good reader rather than a writer, Meltzer was an excellent creative reader, as one can appreciate in this superb account of the work of Freud, Melanie Klein and Bion. Claudio Bermann, Grupo Psicoanalitico de Barcelona Meltzer’s beautifully written text traces a line of development in psychoanalysis from Freud through Abraham to Klein and Bion, focusing on their methods of observation, clinical work and emerging theories. By highlighting points of congruence and difference and significant shifts in understanding, he outlines a continuity of clinical method and thought that has come to be known as the ‘Kleinian Development’. This text is an invaluable companion to the readings of Freud, Klein and Bion for all students of psychoanalysis, for clinicians and for all those interested in the development of psychoanalytic thinking. Debbie Hindle, Organizing Tutor, Scottish Institute of Human Relations To really appreciate the originality of Meltzer’s thinking, one needs to grasp how deeply his ideas are rooted in the psychoanalytic tradition. This book provides a close reading of classical texts by Freud, Klein and Bion – what Meltzer calls the ‘Kleinian Development’ - with an emphasis on case material. With Meltzer as guide we can discover a wealth of object-relational themes in Freud, themes that seems more evident today than in the early years of psychoanalysis. In Part 1 of the book we follow the tension between Freud’s truthfully written clinical observations and a theory not always capable of apprehending these findings, and see how this tension became a challenge to the next generation of analysts, among them Klein. In Part 2, a week-by-week account of her Narrative of a Child Analysis, Klein’s clinical notes provide a rare opportunity to get very close to the clinical process. Meltzer throws new light on this material and shows the development in Kleinian and post-Kleinian thinking through the oscillations between clinical observations and model-making. Part 3 may serve as an introduction to Bion, but this is very much the Bion of Meltzer, and it leads the way to his later more original work. In this book Meltzer’s deep appreciation of his former masters comes forth clearly, but in a form that is very much alive and challenging. Grete Tangen Andersen, Morten Andersen, Jon Morgan Stokkeland, Lilian Stokkeland, Eirik Tjessem (The Meltzer Study Group, Stavanger, Norway) The Kleinian Development is based on transcripts of seminars given during the 60’s and 70’s at the Tavistock Clinic to Child Psychotherapists in training and at the Institute of Psychoanalysis. Don’s voice echoes through the pages eliciting memories of the many occasions on which he offered his audience the benefit of his observational skill and sometimes startling intuitions. For clinicians, whether students of the psychoanalytic method or experienced practitioners, this work provides a source of enlightenment which will become increasingly satisfying the more it is read. Kate Carling, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust. The Claustrum It is impressive how much Meltzer extended and enriched Melanie Klein’s concepts in The Claustrum. He considers the claustrum-dweller’s projective identification into an internal object to be not “massive” (a quantitative concept), but rather, “intrusive” (a qualitative concept), hence its malignancy. He also discovered that not only the uterus, but also other spaces of the internal mother figure, are susceptible to becoming a “maternal claustrum”, each giving rise to distinct pathologies. Rebeca Grinberg, training analyst and child analyst, Asociación Psicoanalitica de Madrid, IPA In this book Meltzer both develops and brings into direct clinical use the (predominantly late) aesthetic viewpoint of Bion, in a radical post-Kleinian and, I would say, systems-oriented understanding of severe personality disorders, more illuminating than life and death instincts at work. Meltzer shows that however dynamic a person’s life may seem to be, his inner world may be dominated by stagnant, narcissistic, closed systems with no vital interchange. No real commitment to others and no true relation to his inner self will then be permitted, and his inner life will eventually disintegrate if he does not change. In a clear-cut but not simplistic way Meltzer shows how to identify these patterns and the omnipotence and claustrophobic fears that accompany them. Lennart Ramberg, training analyst, Swedish Psychoanalytical Association, IPA, IFPS. Perhaps it can be seen as a diptych together with The Apprehension of Beauty. For the claustrum dweller in intrusive identification, no freedom is given to the object and so the riches and beauty of the host turn sour…the claustrum in its deepest unconscious mentality is a world of misconceptions, misrepresentations, failed recognition and delusion. Jon Morgan Stokkeland, Stavanger, Norway, and Lars Thorgaard, Aarhus, Denmark; adult psychotherapists and psychiatrists Living unconsciously in head/breast-, genital- or anal compartments has severe psychopathological consequences. Meltzer’s investigations in these narcissistic worlds profoundly enlarge our understanding of schizophrenia, borderline states, perversions, addictions and claustrophobic phenomena. Tomas Plaenkers, training analyst, Sigmund Freud Institut, Frankfurt I find this a wonderful book. Meltzer has a light touch in talking about very serious problems of mental growth, without belittling them. He also gives a picture, with tenderness and his ever-present wry humour, of how we can find something better, more alive for ourselves and for our patients. His work is inspirational for students and experienced practitioners alike. Katherine Arnold, child and adult psychotherapist The Apprehension of Beauty Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its first publication, the re-issue of this book which has become among the most significant and classic contributions to post-Kleinian thought and learning, is surely a welcome and much anticipated event. Aesthetics, beauty, and the aesthetic conflict, have been the building blocks of psychoanalysis, a revised developmental scheme of “love-at-first-sight” mother-child relationship with its consequent good internal object formation, and the critical reading of literature and poetry. This book represents the gems of thought and discovery in the works of Meg Harris Williams and Donald Meltzer. Gilead Nachmani, psychoanalyst, William Alanson White Institute, New York The Apprehension of Beauty comprises in a nutshell the Meltzerian innovations in psychoanalytic thought, in particular his application of Bion’s theory of the apprehension aroused by the “new idea” as pointing specifically to the “mystery” at the nucleus of the “aesthetic conflict”. The book, assembled by two pairs of hands, reviews various aspects of the aesthetic conflict, alternating clinical essays and those of literary criticism, serving to demonstrate how the process set in motion in analysis and in the coming to fruition of an art work are essentially one. Sandra Gosso, specialist in Psychology of art, researcher at the Department of Philosophy, University of Pisa This beautifully conceived and written book has the power to inspire, both for its passionately-felt insights into the origins of the human capacity to apprehend beauty, and for the sheer breadth of the sources on which it draws. And thanks to Meg Harris Williams’ rich and evocative contributions from the world of literature, the book will have wide appeal beyond those privileged through the psychoanalytic encounter to enjoy what Meltzer calls ‘the most interesting conversation in the world’. The work they have created between them may be said truly to deliver the ‘blow of beauty’ of which it speaks. Dorothy Hamilton, training therapist and supervisor, Association for Group and Individual Psychotherapy The book presents a psychoanalytic model of the mind that suggests how the aesthetic aspects of just being born can have simultaneously a most violent and a most tender impact upon the human mind. It elaborates the impact of the aesthetic conflict in work with patients, in creativity and art. The two writers show, in a beautiful way, how the psychoanalytical process itself stands forth as an artform; and how clinical material, dreams, artworks, poems and plays can all be connected to the aesthetic conflict. The interplay between Meltzer's clinical material and Harris Williams's interpretations of Shakespeare and poetry, brings the two minds in the book in juxtaposition and we catch a glimpse of the interactive influence they must have had on one another - an influence that created the great psychoanalytic object that is The Apprehension of Beauty. Grete Tangen Andersen, Morten Andersen, Trond Holm, Jon Morgan Stokkeland, Lilian Stokkeland, Eirik Tjessem (The Meltzer Study Group, Stavanger, Norway) Studies in Extended Metapsychology Donald Meltzer’s unique talent for clarification is impressively demonstrated in this book devoted to the application of Wilfred Bion’s `ideas of genius’. Meltzer presents and discusses the clinical experiences of people from many different countries with whom he has worked with in seminars, personal discussions and supervisions. Bion’s revolutionary modification of the working model of the mind: his theories of thinking (alpha function and the grid), affects (LH and K), and groups (basic assumption and work groups) find applications which illuminate and integrate the author’s previous study of Bion in The Kleinian Development.. KENNETH SANDERS, psychoanalyst In this collection of essays, Meltzer develops Bion’s concept of a nonthinking group mentality, setting it against the individual mind, which grows through the digestion of emotional and passionate experiences. This distinction is crucial for the comprehension of some of the darkest areas of psychoanalytic practice: infantile disturbances, the functioning of adolescent groups and somatizations. HUGO MARQUEZ, MARIA ELENA PETRILLI, MAURO ROSSETTI, Gruppo di Studio Racker, Venice This is the most profound work on the clinical applications of Bion’s Ideas. Meltzer’s mind and life have amalgamated with Bion’s deepest theoretical concepts to refind them in the everyday of clinical practice. Many of the chapters have been co-authored with colleagues that worked, supervised and matured with Meltzer, as many of us who had the good fortune to know him. ROBERT OELSNER, psychoanalyst, Seattle The richness of these studies, ranging from protomental states and reversal of alpha-function, to problems in nursery and early childhood for children of “confusing times”, defies any neat summarizing of this book and its conclusions. Instead, Meltzer’s ethical emphasis shines through, making clear the necessity to differentiate between truth and lies, thinking and political manipulation, in the internal world as much as the external, and to be guided by the solemnity of the dictate “in the beginning was the aesthetic object”. THE MELTZER STUDY GROUP OF SAVONA AND MILAN