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Published on: February 16, 2011
The Relational Turn as Clinical Sensibility: Rethinking Innovation in Contemporary Psychoanalysis
1E-mail: govrina.biu@gmail.com.
Psychoanalytic Review
|June 4, 2026
Summary
The relational approach in psychoanalysis is a clinical sensibility, not just a theory. It challenges core assumptions, transforming therapy and creating new possibilities and dilemmas in psychoanalytic knowledge development.
Area of Science:
- Psychoanalysis
- Psychotherapy
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Classical psychoanalytic innovations stemmed from clinical observations.
- The relational approach represents a distinct form of innovation in psychoanalysis.
- This approach challenges fundamental epistemological assumptions within the field.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the relational approach as a clinical sensibility.
- To examine its impact on therapeutic practice across theoretical boundaries.
- To understand how this sensibility influences the development and dissemination of psychoanalytic knowledge.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of clinical vignettes.
- Examination of training experiences.
- Theoretical exploration of psychoanalytic innovation.
Main Results:
- The relational approach has fundamentally altered psychoanalytic practice.
- It creates new therapeutic possibilities and novel clinical dilemmas.
- Understanding innovation as "sensibilities" offers insights into knowledge evolution.
Conclusions:
- The relational approach is a transformative clinical sensibility in psychoanalysis.
- It challenges existing epistemological frameworks.
- Viewing innovation through "sensibilities" is key to understanding psychoanalytic knowledge development.
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