The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 2015, 75, (1–2) © 2015 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis 0002-9548/15 www.palgrave-journals.com/ajp/
CELEBRATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
With this issue we begin celebrating 75 years of continuous publication of this journal, founded by Karen Horney and her pioneering colleagues. We are proud of our history and we are launching a yearlong commemoration with the present issue, which honors Sándor Ferenczi (Szekacs-Weisz, 2015), who did not accept that in the new field of psychoanalysis anything was settled once and for all. Ferenczi constantly looked for new perspectives, new connections, examining them courageously and generously sharing his findings with others. His experimentations came in opposition to most of the psychoanalytic community’s attempt to codify and restrict analytic theory and technique. Ferenczi reconsidered the theory of pathology and the theory of mind and examined the complex impact of early external trauma on the development of the self, and its impact on future relationships, including the analytic relationship. His works anticipated later works of psychoanalytic theorists, including Karen Horney’s. Needless to say, the 1930s were years of great turmoil in psychoanalysis. As we all know, the existence of the American Journal of Psychoanalysis (AJP) is connected to the resignation of Karen Horney from the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, following her demotion on April 21, 1941, because her teaching “disturbed” the candidates. Horney and her colleagues formed a new organization, the Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis, with William Silverberg as president, and Clara Thompson as vice president. Karen Horney became the founding editor of the AJP, the journal of the Association and the dean of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis, which was established later in 1941. The five members who resigned with Horney from the NYPA Institute, sent an “Explanatory Note” to the members of the American Psychoanalytic Association, a note which echoed Ferenczi’s life-long sentiments: Psychoanalysis is a young science, still in an experimental stage of its development, full of uncertainties, full of problems to which anything approaching final and conclusive answers is still to be sought. As in all sciences, the solutions of these problems are directly dependent upon more voluminous and keener observations, as well as upon further weighing and consideration of observations already made. … There are two antithetical attitudes towards psychoanalysis
2
INTRODUCTION
today. One of these is based upon the awareness that psychoanalysis is still in an experimental stage of its development. The other attitude regards psychoanalysis as having in many respects passed beyond this stage … psychoanalysis as they conceive it to have been handed down by Freud. … We have tried for many years now to combat this dogmatism. … Our efforts have increasingly met with frustration; the “classicists” … have become more and more strongly entrenched in their dogmatism, and recent developments have convinced us of the impossibility of persuading them to take a more liberal attitude towards this issue … We have felt essential … to create a new center for psychoanalytic work, devoted to truly liberal and scientific principles, in psychoanalytic training, investigation and discussion. We invite freely all those of our colleagues who are likewise devoted to such principles to join with us in this endeavor. (signed) Harmon S. Ephron, Karen Horney, Sarah R. Kelman, Bernard S. Robbins, Clara Thompson (Ephron, et al., 1941, pp. 9–10)
The volumes of the AJP that followed the first issue tracked the many subsequent changes in psychoanalysis, with the contributors committed to offering excellent work to our readers. The journal first flourished under the editorship of Horney and after her was nurtured and guided by the editorships of Harold Kelman, Ralph Slater, Helen DeRosis, Mario Rendon and Douglas Ingram. Since 2000, with the incredible support of the dedicated Editorial Board, I have worked to build upon our proud legacy. In spite of our best intentions, over the years we were not always successful in keeping our own doors open, but we have not given up the struggle against the pull of isolation, or an exclusive adherence to any psychoanalytic thought. We have been continually engaged in this challenge. For example, with Volume 61, we have changed the scope of the AJP to an international psychoanalytic journal, and have consistently published works of authors of all persuasion, and from all over the world, read and refereed by an international editorial board. I am privileged to be the editor of this journal at its 75th anniversary, thankful for the opportunity to witness our accomplishments and delighted by our ability to stay vital for all these precious years. Giselle Galdi Editor REFERENCES Ephron, H. S., Horney, K., Kelman, S. R., Robbins, B. S. & Thompson, C. (1941). Explanatory note. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1(1), 9–10. Szekacs-Weisz, J. (Ed.) (2015). Second special issue. Sincerity and freedom inspired by Ferenczi’s clinical diary. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 75(1). DOI:10.1057/ajp.2014.62
Copyright of American Journal of Psychoanalysis is the property of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
CELEBRATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
With this issue we begin celebrating 75 years of continuous publication of this journal, founded by Karen Horney and her pioneering colleagues. We are proud of our history and we are launching a yearlong commemoration with the present issue, which honors Sándor Ferenczi (Szekacs-Weisz, 2015), who did not accept that in the new field of psychoanalysis anything was settled once and for all. Ferenczi constantly looked for new perspectives, new connections, examining them courageously and generously sharing his findings with others. His experimentations came in opposition to most of the psychoanalytic community’s attempt to codify and restrict analytic theory and technique. Ferenczi reconsidered the theory of pathology and the theory of mind and examined the complex impact of early external trauma on the development of the self, and its impact on future relationships, including the analytic relationship. His works anticipated later works of psychoanalytic theorists, including Karen Horney’s. Needless to say, the 1930s were years of great turmoil in psychoanalysis. As we all know, the existence of the American Journal of Psychoanalysis (AJP) is connected to the resignation of Karen Horney from the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, following her demotion on April 21, 1941, because her teaching “disturbed” the candidates. Horney and her colleagues formed a new organization, the Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis, with William Silverberg as president, and Clara Thompson as vice president. Karen Horney became the founding editor of the AJP, the journal of the Association and the dean of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis, which was established later in 1941. The five members who resigned with Horney from the NYPA Institute, sent an “Explanatory Note” to the members of the American Psychoanalytic Association, a note which echoed Ferenczi’s life-long sentiments: Psychoanalysis is a young science, still in an experimental stage of its development, full of uncertainties, full of problems to which anything approaching final and conclusive answers is still to be sought. As in all sciences, the solutions of these problems are directly dependent upon more voluminous and keener observations, as well as upon further weighing and consideration of observations already made. … There are two antithetical attitudes towards psychoanalysis
2
INTRODUCTION
today. One of these is based upon the awareness that psychoanalysis is still in an experimental stage of its development. The other attitude regards psychoanalysis as having in many respects passed beyond this stage … psychoanalysis as they conceive it to have been handed down by Freud. … We have tried for many years now to combat this dogmatism. … Our efforts have increasingly met with frustration; the “classicists” … have become more and more strongly entrenched in their dogmatism, and recent developments have convinced us of the impossibility of persuading them to take a more liberal attitude towards this issue … We have felt essential … to create a new center for psychoanalytic work, devoted to truly liberal and scientific principles, in psychoanalytic training, investigation and discussion. We invite freely all those of our colleagues who are likewise devoted to such principles to join with us in this endeavor. (signed) Harmon S. Ephron, Karen Horney, Sarah R. Kelman, Bernard S. Robbins, Clara Thompson (Ephron, et al., 1941, pp. 9–10)
The volumes of the AJP that followed the first issue tracked the many subsequent changes in psychoanalysis, with the contributors committed to offering excellent work to our readers. The journal first flourished under the editorship of Horney and after her was nurtured and guided by the editorships of Harold Kelman, Ralph Slater, Helen DeRosis, Mario Rendon and Douglas Ingram. Since 2000, with the incredible support of the dedicated Editorial Board, I have worked to build upon our proud legacy. In spite of our best intentions, over the years we were not always successful in keeping our own doors open, but we have not given up the struggle against the pull of isolation, or an exclusive adherence to any psychoanalytic thought. We have been continually engaged in this challenge. For example, with Volume 61, we have changed the scope of the AJP to an international psychoanalytic journal, and have consistently published works of authors of all persuasion, and from all over the world, read and refereed by an international editorial board. I am privileged to be the editor of this journal at its 75th anniversary, thankful for the opportunity to witness our accomplishments and delighted by our ability to stay vital for all these precious years. Giselle Galdi Editor REFERENCES Ephron, H. S., Horney, K., Kelman, S. R., Robbins, B. S. & Thompson, C. (1941). Explanatory note. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1(1), 9–10. Szekacs-Weisz, J. (Ed.) (2015). Second special issue. Sincerity and freedom inspired by Ferenczi’s clinical diary. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 75(1). DOI:10.1057/ajp.2014.62
Copyright of American Journal of Psychoanalysis is the property of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
