Bulletin of the Psychoanalytic Research Society, Volume II, Number 1, Spring, 1993
Lloyd Silverman (1976, p. 621) once remarked that reports regarding the death of psychoanalysis "have been greatly exaggerated." Clearly, he was correct in a number of respects. There has probably been more serious empirical research testing and extending psychoanalytic concepts during the past three decades than at any other time in the history of the discipline. Moreover, the development of object relations theory and self psychology have produced an abundance of new and innovative perspectives on psychoanalytic theory, therapy and research. The success of Joseph Masling's ongoing series of edited volumes entitled Empirical Studies of Psychoanalytic Theories (Masling, 1983, 1986, 1990) attests to the richness and vigor of our discipline.
Unfortunately, despite the tremendous progress that we have made in testing psychoanalytic concepts empirically, many academic psychologists remain skeptical regarding the heuristic value of psychoanalytic theory. In fact, many (if not most) academic psychologists have chosen to reject psychoanalytic theory outright, rather than becoming familiar with its propositions and tenets, and then critically evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the psychoanalytic model. If psychoanalysis is to survive-much less flourish-for another 100 years, those of us who are involved in the empirical testing of psychoanalytic concepts must become even more active in communicating the results of our investigations to colleagues within and outside the psychoanalytic community.
The Bulletin of the Psychoanalytic Research Society provides a unique forum within which those of us who are interested in quantitative research on psychoanalysis can share our findings and ideas. I am pleased to assume editorship of the Bulletin beginning with this issue, and I would like to take this opportunity to briefly discuss the goals and purposes of the Bulletin as I see them.
First and foremost, the aim of the Bulletin is to promote the empirical study of psychoanalytic concepts. Empirical research on psychoanalysis can take many forms, including laboratory studies, field investigations, clinical studies of therapeutic process and outcome, archival studies and meta-analytic reviews of the literature. Theoretical discussions of the relationship between psychoanalytic research and theory, and of the relationship between research and clinical practice are also appropriate for the Bulletin. In short, I hope that this newsletter can become a forum within which the diverse approaches to rigorous empirical research on psychoanalysis can be discussed, debated and integrated.
Second, the Bulletin is intended to be a collaborative effort. Although I plan to do everything that I can to ensure that our newsletter contains interesting, provocative articles that are of interest to a wide range of psychoanalytic researchers and practitioners, the Bulletin should not take the form of a "monologue" wherein I alone air my views regarding the state of our discipline. I need your input if the content of the Bulletin is to remain fresh and interesting.
Finally, I hope that the structure of the Bulletin will help to promote active interchange among psychoanalytically-oriented researchers. To that end, several regular sections and columns win appear in each issue. For example, each issue of the Bulletin win contain one or two Featured Articles wherein psychoanalytic researchers, educators and clinicians can discuss their ideas and findings. Each issue will also contain a column entitled Research Notes/Bibliography, wherein a listing of recent empirical studies on a particular psychoanalytic topic will appear. Beginning with this issue, I hope to include a column entitled Research News as frequently as possible. In this column, psychoanalytically-oriented researchers can report on their (or their students') ongoing research efforts, including completed experiments, exploratory studies and works-in-progress. Finally, each issue of the Bulletin will include the Editor's Message (wherein I can share my thoughts regarding our endeavors), as well as the President's Message, wherein Harold Cook, the president of the Psychoanalytic Research Society, can share his ideas regarding our newsletter, the Society, and the discipline as a whole.
Although I plan to include each of these sections in future issues of the Bulletin we need not limit ourselves to working entirely within this framework. If you have ideas for other kinds of materials that we might publish in the Bulletin, please let me know. I welcome Letters to the Editor (which I will try to publish in future issues of our newsletter), suggestions for articles, and reports of your research efforts and findings. Honors and awards received by members of the Psychoanalytic Research Society are also appropriate for the Bulletin as are announcements of grant opportunities, requests for research materials, invitations for collaboration, and other kinds of information likely to be of interest to our readers. I look forward to hearing from you and learning about your work in this area.
In closing, I would like to thank several people whose help and support have made my first few months as editor of the Bulletin very rewarding. First, I'd like to thank Drs. Harold Cook, Carol Geisler, Gwendolyn Gerber and Joseph Turkey who conceived of the idea for the Bulletin. Without their efforts, this newsletter would never have become a reality. Thanks are also due to Linda Murphy, whose assistance with the layout and production of the Bulletin has been tremendously important and valuable. Finally, I'd like to offer special thanks to Harold Cook, who has gone out of his way to offer support, advice and encouragement as I blundered through my first months as editor of the Bulletin. Harold Cook's efforts on behalf of the Society during its first few years have been tremendous. We owe him our gratitude.