Clara M. Thompsons Professional Evolution and Legacy: An American Psychoanalyst (1933-1958)

Beginning in 1933, after Sandor Ferenczis death, this volume draws extensively from interviews, personal correspondence, and scholarly essays to explore the latter part of Clara Thompsons life and professional career.

The reader is afforded an understanding of Thompsons development with the luminaries who influenced her, and who she, in turn, influenced, including Harry Stack Sullivan, Erich Fromm, and other "cultural" social scientists. Building on her collaborative work with Ferenczi, and influenced by Sullivan, Thompsons pioneering essays expand the psychoanalytic perspective to embrace the dynamic interpersonal encounter between patient and analyst. Critical of Freuds views on women, Thompson also argues against the inequality of women and men in society, reflecting her own moral compass. This volume clarifies Thompsons role in psychoanalytic history, reclaiming her numerous and valuable contributions to both the interpersonal psychoanalytic tradition and to the field of psychoanalysis as we know it today.

DErcoles artfully woven account of Thompsons life will prove essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychologists, and anyone interested in the history of psychoanalysis.