Lewis Kirshner and Stephen Sternbach met in our library on September 11, 2018 to discuss Intersubjectivity in Psychoanalysis: A Model for Theory and Practice published by Routledge in 2017. Press “play” on the image above or click on the video link to watch the interview.
In his new book, Lewis Kirshner explains and illustrates the concept of intersubjectivity and its application to psychoanalysis. By drawing on findings from neuroscience, infant research, cognitive psychology, Lacanian theory, and philosophy, Kirshner argues that the analytic relationship is best understood as a dialogic exchange of signs between two subjects—a semiotic process. Both subjects bring to the interaction a history and a set of unconscious desires, which inflect their responses. In order to work most effectively with patients, analysts must attend closely to the actual content of the exchange, rather than focusing on imagined contents of the patient’s mind. The current situation revives a history that is shaped by the analyst’s participation. In 2017, Lewis Kirshner was interviewed about this book by Philip Lance, PhD, the Candidate at the The Psychoanalytic Center of California. Click here to listen to the New Books Network podcast.
Lewis A. Kirshner, MD, is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. He has been visiting professor in Lyon, France, and a Fulbright senior fellow in Ghent, Belgium. His numerous publications have treated developments in French psychoanalysis and the work of Lacan, Winnicott, and Ferenczi. He is the author of Having A Life: Self Pathology after Lacan (2004) and Between Winnicott and Lacan: A Clinical Engagement (2011).
Stephen E. Sternbach, MD, is a Faculty Member of BPSI, a Supervisor in the training programs at the Cambridge Health Alliance, participant in the clinical and training programs of the Ecole Freudienne du Quebec, and the author of articles and book reviews on Borderline Personality Disorder and the evolution of psychoanalytic theory since Freud. He is in private practice in Cambridge, MA.
