The Pocket Dictionary of Clinical Psychoanalysis: Essential Terms for Psychoanalytic Practice and Technique

What does a psychoanalytic clinician actually do - and how can technique remain rigorous without becoming rigid? The Pocket Dictionary of Clinical Psychoanalysis offers a clear, critical map of the concepts that organize practice from the first consultation to termination.

Written in accessible American English, the book presents 272 alphabetized entries covering assessment, formulation, the frame, free association, analytic listening, dreams, defense, transference, countertransference, interpretation, resistance, enactment, rupture, repair, supervision, risk, trauma, online analysis, and working through. Classical ideas appear alongside contemporary concepts such as mentalization, the analytic third, shared formulation, screen analysis, patient feedback, and trauma-informed psychoanalysis.

Every entry combines definition, cross-school context, internal cross-references, and a critical clinical note. The volume distinguishes neutrality from indifference, abstinence from deprivation, flexibility from boundarylessness, empathy from certainty, and mutual influence from equal responsibility. Patient autonomy, informed consent, confidentiality, safeguarding, medical assessment, documentation, and supervision remain integral throughout. It is Volume 9 of The Pocket Psychoanalysis Library from ABRAFP International Press.