A revolution is occurring across the intellectual landscape: linear, causational models are yielding to models that stress relativism and interactionism. In "Subject Relations," this paradigm shift is applied to psychoanalysis. Traditional psychoanalysis views relationships as forged through individual drives--a satisfaction and fulfillment of needs and desires. Rucker and Lombardi contend, however, that all relationships cannot be explained so simply; rather, they argue that human relationships carry meanings which cannot be reduced solely to the psychic contributions of each of the individuals involved. Instead, "Subject Relations" discusses the existence of a related unconscious rooted in mutual subjective experience.
The authors cite numerous clinical examples that show how the unconscious material generated by human interrelatedness comes to light. Drawing on the work of Matte Blanco as well as traditional object relations theorists such as Melanie Klein, D.W. Winnicott, and Thomas Ogden, Rucker and Lombardi examine how identifications that exist through unconscious processes manifest themselves in psychoanalytic theory and practice.
"Subject Relations" is an exciting, timely, and important contribution to the developing relational perspective in psychoanalysis.