Guide to Psychoanalytic Developmental Theories

As the foundational theory of modern psychological practice, psychoanalysis and its attendant assumptions predominated well through most of the twentieth century. The influence of psychoanalytic theories of development was profound and still resonates in the thinking and practice of today’s mental health professionals. Guide to Psychoanalytic Developmental Theories provides a succinct and reliable overview of what these theories are and where they came from. Ably combining theory, history, and biography it summarizes the theories of Freud and his successors against the broader evolution of analytic developmental theory itself, giving readers a deeper understanding of this history, and of their own theoretical stance and choices of interventions. Along the way, the authors discuss criteria for evaluating developmental theories, trace persistent methodological concerns, and shed intriguing light on what was considered normative child and adolescent behavior in earlier eras.

Each major paradigm is represented by its most prominent figures such as Freud’s drive theory, Erikson’s life cycle theory, Bowlby’s attachment theory, and Fonagy’s neuropsychological attachment theory. For each, the Guide provides:

• biographical information
• a conceptual framework
• contributions to theory
• a clinical illustration or salient excerpt from their work.

The Guide to Psychoanalytic Developmental Theories offers a foundational perspective for the graduate student in clinical or school psychology, counseling, or social work. Seasoned psychiatrists, analysts, and other clinical practitioners also may find it valuable to revisit these formative moments in the history of the field.

Joseph Palombo is the Founding Dean of the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago, a staff member and founder of the Rush Neurobehavioral Center, and a faculty member of the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Program of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. Well-known as an author who has published numerous papers on a variety of topics related to the diagnosis and treatment of psychological conditions, he has specialized in the area of the effects of learning disabilities of development. He has published two books: Learning disorders and disorders of the self in children and adolescents and Nonverbal learning disabilities: A clinical perspective.

Harold K. Bendicsen has an advanced degree from the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Program of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis and is currently a faculty member of that program. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work. He was the director of a child welfare agency and of an agency that provided services to adolescents and young adults. He has been a consultant to many facilities that provide services to children and adolescents and is in private practice.

Barry J. Koch, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor and Field Coordinator for Newman University’s Master of Social Work (MSW) program in Colorado Springs where he teaches courses in advanced clinical practice, psychopathology, human development, and social policy. He received his PhD in Chicago from the Institute for Clinical Social Work in 2004. Dr. Koch has taught undergraduate and graduate students. He has been the director of a crisis intervention center and has many years of clinical practice experience treating a wide variety of mental health conditions.