Lewis Aron

Lewis Aron Ph.D., ABPP
Lewis Aron, Ph.D.,ABPP; (Picture credit: Sharon Derhy)
Born	December 21, 1952
Residence	New York City, New York
Organization	New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis
Known for	Relational psychoanalysis, Mutuality & asymmetry in clinical psychoanalysis, The analyst's use of subjectivity
Website	http://www.lewaron.com/

Lewis Aron, Ph.D., ABPP, is an internationally recognized teacher and lecturer on psychotherapy and psychoanalysis who has made significant contributions to psychoanalysis, particularly within the specialty known as relational psychoanalysis.^[1] Dr. Aron is the Director of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis in New York City.^[2] He was the founding president of the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and was formerly President of the Division of Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association. He practices in New York where he is well known for teaching ongoing study and reading groups for professional therapists. His 1996 volume A Meeting of Minds: Mutuality in Psychoanalysis and his (1999) edited volume with Stephen Mitchell, Relational Psychoanalysis: The Emergence of a Tradition are considered two of the essential texts in contemporary American psychoanalysis. Together with Adrienne Harris, he edits the Relational Perspectives Book Series, which has published many of the texts in the field. Dr. Aron was one of the founders of the preeminent journal Psychoanalytic Dialogues: The International Journal of Relational Perspectives.^[3]

Contribution to psychoanalysis

The term "relational psychoanalysis" was first used by Greenberg and Mitchell in 1983 to bridge the traditions of interpersonal relations, as developed within interpersonal psychoanalysis and object relations, as developed within contemporary British theory. Due in large measure to the seminal work of Stephen Mitchell, the term "relational psychoanalysis" grew and began to accrue to itself many other influences and developments.^[4] Various tributaries—interpersonal psychoanalysis, object relations theory, self psychology, empirical infancy research, and elements of contemporary Freudian and Kleinian thought—flow into this tradition, which understands relational configurations between self and others, both real and fantasized, as the primary subject of psychoanalytic investigation.

Relational psychoanalysis has become the dominant form of American contemporary psychoanalysis. Lewis Aron's contributions to the field include:

• the development and expansion of relational theory and practice.
• a comprehensive examination of the patient's experience of the analyst's subjectivity.
• a view of psychoanalysis that emphasizes mutual regulation and mutual recognition, even within the context of a certain necessary asymmetry of roles and responsibilities.
• studies on the ethics of psychoanalysis and particularly the ethics of writing about patients.
• examination of controversies in psychoanalytic education and psychoanalytic institutions.
• explorations of psychoanalysis, religion, and spirituality.
• studies of the ways in which psychoanalysis historically defined itself in opposition to psychotherapy, paying special attention to the surprising relevance of racism, antisemitism, misogyny, and homophobia in the origins of psychoanalysis.
• the development of a "progressive psychoanalysis" for the twenty-first century.

Authored and edited works

Authored Works

• Lewis Aron and Karen Starr (2012), A Psychotherapy for the People: Toward a Progressive Psychoanalysis, Routledge.
• Aron, L. (1996), A Meeting of Minds: Mutuality in Psychoanalysis Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.

Edited Works

• Aron, L., & Henik, L. (Eds.) (2015). Answering a question with a question: Contemporary psychoanalysis and Jewish thought (Vol. II). A Tradition of Inquiry. Brighton, MA: Academic Studies Press.
• Aron, L. and Harris, A. (2011), Relational Psychoanalysis IV: Expansion of Theory, Routledge
• Aron, L. and Harris, A. (2011), Relational Psychoanalysis V: Evolution of Process, Routledge
• Aron, L. and Henik, L., EDS. (2010), Answering a Question With A Question: Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Jewish Thought, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
• Suchet, M. Harris, A. and Aron, L., EDS. (2007), 978-0-88163-456-3 Relational Psychoanalysis III: New Voices, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
• Aron, L. and Harris, A., EDS. (2005). 978-0-88163-407-5 Relational Psychoanalysis II: Innovation and Expansion, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
• Mitchell, S. A. and Aron, L., EDS. (1999) 978-0-88163-270-5 Relational Psychoanalysis: The Emergence of a Tradition, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
• Aron, L. and Anderson, F. S., EDS. (1998), 978-0-88163-343-6 Relational Perspectives on the Body, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
• Aron, L. and Harris, A., EDS. (1993), 978-0-88163-429-7 The Legacy of Sandor Ferenczi, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.

Notes

External links

• Official website
• NYU Postdoctoral Program website

References