This volume describes the way in which psychoanalysis has developed beyond the psychology of ego and object relationships and today places greater emphasis on the importance of ongoing relationships. This has given rise to a fundamental change in analytical treatment practice. Many fundamental attitudes and convictions have been questioned, modified, or abandoned. Attentiveness, authenticity and controlled openness are what shape the encounter today. The book discusses the origins, opportunities and risks of this new approach, particularly in relation to contemporary disturbances and tasks, and closes with a glance into the future.

Prof. Michael Ermann, a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist, is Emeritus Professor of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University of Munich and now works in Berlin.