Rapprochement: The Critical Subphase of Separation-Individuation

Extract from the preface of this book: "The papers in this volume are a testimonial to the generativity of Maragaret S. Mahler's ideas and work. Few analyst's of her time have as deeply marked the thinking of a generation; such concepts as autism, symbiosis, differentiation, practicing, and rapproachement have become everyday tools in work with both children and adults. Margaret Mahler's observations, concepts, and hypotheses haved fired the imagination and creativity of a generation of workers and for this we are grateful. The rapproachement conflict she has so exquisitely described is indeed the nexus of her theory, as it is of the early years of life. We hope that the papers collected in this book will help in the understanding of both... The enthusiastic reception accorded these papers indicated that their collection into an available volume would be welcomed by the professional community. It soon became clear that most contributions focused on issues pertaining to the rapproachement subphase, because it is of crucial developmental and theoretical significance. The subsequent selection of papers was made with this theme in mind." Contributers include: Otto F. Kernberg, Louise J. Kaplan, Hans W. Loewald, Gertrude and Rubuin Blanck, Sheldon Bach, Anni Bergman, Fred Pine, Harold P. Blum, James F. Masterson and Donald B. Rinsley,Ruth F. Lax, and more.