Introduction: The Effects of the “Postmodern” Turn in Relational Psychoanalysis

For the past 30 years, psychoanalysis has incorporated insights from post-modern philosophy, including feminism and queer theory (Benjamin, 1988; Butler, 1990), deconstructionism (Fairfield, 2001), chaos theory (Harris, 2005), systems theory (Beebe & Lachmann, 2003), field theory (Fiscalini, 2007), and hermeneutics (Stern, 1997), undergoing a widely acknowledged “postmodern” or “relational” turn. Specifically, relational psychoanalysis has given greater emphasis to the ways interpersonal phenomena, including linguistic and discursive practices, structures and gives shape to how individuals interpret reality and their lived experiences. As the basis of meaning making, interpretation and subjective experiencing are strongly influenced by familial and cultural norms as well as societal power structures. Broadly stated, relational psychoanalysis thus considers the ways relationships, culture, and context shape individual psychology and pathology (Greenberg & Mitchell, 1983).