Reviews Review, by Dr. Joyce McDougall, Author of "Theatre of the Mind". It is my privilege to be able to preface this work, which represents the fruit of Dr. Rafael Springmann’s numerous contributions comprising over thirty years of reflection, to the clinical and theoretical issues involved in treating patients suffering from delusional states. In the first part of the book the author, an experienced psychiatrist (who for several years was chief psychiatrist of Israel’s defense force and later director of mental health in the Israeli ministry of health) describes a theory of interpretations developed primarily by Henry Ezriel of the Tavistock Clinic in London and subsequently applied and extended by Dr. Springmann to various clinical situations, such as brief psychotherapies, group (especially large group, such as ward meetings) therapies and so on. His reflections include all clinical entities – from simple secondary male impotence to chronic schizophrenia – and the author applies this interpretative approach to many theoretical axes of development, including the Freudian (psycho-sexual) the Kleinian-Kernbergian (integrational) axis, the Kohutian (grandiosity to mature self-confidence) approach, as well as Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Springmann then goes on to examine the mutual influence of these different perspectives on each other. The second part of the book deals with the differential approach to, and the implementation of many issues involved in the experience of countertransference. In this latter section, the author combines his theoretical and clinical perspectives with a theoretical approach to the problem of supervision. In this part special attention is mentioned concerning the treatment of countertransferencial problems arising in therapists who deal with mass trauma, a topic that has, unfortunately, become relevant again these days. Springmann’s book is unique in that he does not follow one developmental theory or another, but offers a solution for integrating the various axes into one consistent system, in which each developmental axis may influence the others. The Freudian axis may influence the one suggested by Piaget, the Kleinian-Kernbergian axis of integration may be influenced by the Mahlerian axis of separationindividuation etc. All this is richly illustrated by clinical vignettes, thus enabling the reader to discover that each new theoretical position has its clinical counterpart. It is a notable fact that during the decades preceding his retirement from public service Dr. Springmann was head of an open ward in a large psychiatric hospital, responsible for the in-service training of interns, nurses and psychologists, as well as the training programs of students of various categories (medical students, advanced psychologists, art therapists, etc.) He also was invited to supervise the psychotherapeutic work of wards other than his own. Furthermore, at the “Sackler” Tel Aviv University, in the role of senior clinical lecturer, in the department of psychology and supervisor of psychotherapy, Dr. Springmann was also responsible for a course dealing with the psychotherapy of schizophrenia, at the school of psychotherapy of the same University. In view of this breadth of professional experience and its fertilizing effect upon theoretical propositions, and in addition to his highly readable style, his often intriguing clinical vignettes and his underlying sense of humor, Rafael Springmann’s work will be read with interest and profit by all mental health professionals, beginners as well as supervisors. It is innovative and psychoanalytically valid, and will also be enjoyable reading material for the cultivated layman interested in the subject of psychoanalysis. << Back to Reviews

* "Dialogues with Schizophrenia – The Art of Psychotherapy" is the 4^th revised edition of “Psychotherapy, The Neglected Art”