The Future of Psychoanalysis: The Scientific Crossroads
In this invited article in Psychoanalytic Quarterly (1988 Jul; 57 (3): 313-40), Rangell considered the future of his field, its fragmentation and its strengths.
The Scope of Intrapsychic Conflict: Microscopic and Macroscopic Considerations
“Since we must arbitrarily select a starting point, let us start with a hypothetical state of psychic equilibrium, with a person at ease, content, at rest, not particularly ‘bothered’ by anything. He is well defended and averagely satisfled with how adapted he is at that moment, (Such states are, to be sure, most often transitional and not too long-lasting […]
On Friendship
Rangell’s essay, “On Friendship,” ends with this thought, “For life’s bright and dark periods are determined, in the long run, not from the height of the intense love peaks but from the level of the baseline, the likes rather than the loves. Among these, friendships are a major indicator.” “On Friendship” was published in The Journal […]
The Nature of Conversion
“This process has enjoyed a unique historical role in that it has served as a fulcrum around which both psychoanalytic theory and technique have evolved and had their origins, and upon which the psychoanalytic method was first tested and assayed…The process of conversion, not only historically but still at present, serves as a model for […]
Similarities and Differences between Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychotherapy
“There is a spectrum of patients who require one or the other method and a spectrum of therapists able to do one or both. And there is a borderland of conditions, with great fluidity, which may at times call for a change of the technical approach in either direction.” PDF: Rangell 1954.pdf
The Psychology of Poise
“The Psychology of Poise” begins with the description of a woman who achieves a sense of poise and self-control by having a drink or a cigarette “ready to be put to her lips at any tense or challenging moment.” Rangell goes on to discuss and dissect the manifestations of the individual’s need to maintain poise […]
Analysis of a Doll Phobia
“Analysis of a Doll Phobia” was published in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis 1952; 33 (1): 43-53. This essay won the 1951 International Clinical Essay Prize from the British Institute for Psychoanalysis. Rangell describes the treatment of a 38-year-old man who was provoked to anxiety by any kind of doll, puppet, or figurine. By the end of […]
A Treatment of Nightmares in a Seven-Year-Old Boy
Rangell’s “A treatment of nightmares in a seven-year-old-boy” appeared in Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 1950; 5: 358-390. He describes “blow-by-blow” his treatment of a young child by correspondence with his parents and compares it with Freud’s famous case of Little Hans.