Review
Mental health professionals involved in the practice of psychoanalytical psychotherapy will find this volume of the writings of Harry Guntrip a tour de force of the theoretical growth of object relations theory starting from Klein, through Winnicott and Fairbairn, to the unique contribution of Guntrip himself. Guntrip let patients speak for themselves, evoking a personal and startingly clear picture of the internal struggles of schizoid patients. His arguments for the centrality of schizoid functioning inthe endopsychic world are powerfully compelling, not least because they represent his own personal search allied to a commitment that object relations theory must be scientifically rigorous and also encompass the personal. Through the guidance of JeremyHazell in the introductory chapter, we are allowed to share in Guntrip's personal search and his integration of the theoretical and the personal. (J. D. Sutherland was to continue this work with his theory of the autonomous self until his death in 1991.)Fairbairn and Winnicott were for Guntrip broad representations of the traditional Cartesian dualism in science--objectivity vs. subjectivity, psychotherapy vs. behaviorism, technique vs. personal relationship. These themes pervade this book and challenge (David J. Scott )
Guntrip described what is most important about psychoanalysis as 'a process of interaction, a function of two variables, the personalities of two people working together towards spontaneous growth.' In this important collection of Guntrip's papers, the reader not only hears these words, but can almost feel the struggle for personal contact and meaning unfold in the sequence of chapters. Jeremy Hazell, the editor, begins the volume with a hauntingly sensitive intertwining of Guntrip's personal psychoanalytic biography and the unfolding of his professional writings. It seems almost as if Hazell and Guntrip come to life in the process of understanding and being understood. This book provides a personally enriching experience as well as necessary background for any serious student of object relations theory, or, for that matter, of the psychology of the self. (N. Gregory Hamilton, M.D. )
Mental health professionals involved in the practice of psychoanalytical psychotherapy will find this volume of the writings of Harry Guntrip a tour de force of the theoretical growth of object relations theory starting from Klein, through Winnicott and Fairbairn, to the unique contribution of Guntrip himself. Guntrip let patients speak for themselves, evoking a personal and startingly clear picture of the internal struggles of schizoid patients. His arguments for the centrality of schizoid functioning in the endopsychic world are powerfully compelling, not least because they represent his own personal search allied to a commitment that object relations theory must be scientifically rigorous and also encompass the personal. Through the guidance of Jeremy Hazell in the introductory chapter, we are allowed to share in Guntrip's personal search and his integration of the theoretical and the personal. (J. D. Sutherland was to continue this work with his theory of the autonomous self until his death in 1991.) Fairbairn and Winnicott were for Guntrip broad representations of the traditional Cartesian dualism in science--objectivity vs. subjectivity, psychotherapy vs. behaviorism, technique vs. personal relationship. These themes pervade this book and challenge modern practitioners to continue the work of bringing theory and practice wholly together with their ultimate source--the personal. (David J. Scott )
About the Author
After studying Law and Theology at University
Jeremy Hazell underwent a Training Analysis with Harry Guntrip. He has been a full member of the British Association of Psychotherapists since 1972, and entered full-time private practice after having worked for twenty years as Senior Counselor at the University of Wales, Cardiff. He is a founding member, lecturer and training therapist at the Severnside Institute for Psychotherapy, Bristol. He is presently working on a biographical account of Guntrip's professional career.