Draft:Joyce Slochower

Joyce Slochower, Ph.D., ABPP., is a psychologist-psychoanalyst, teacher, and writer. She is known for her work integrating Winnicottian and relational thought and for her exploration of many under-addressed aspects of clinical work including boundary violations, resistance, aging, and mourning. Slochower is Professor Emerita at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, faculty and supervisor at the NYU Postdoctoral Program, the Steven Mitchell Center, the National Training Program of NIP (all in New York), Philadelphia Center for Relational Studies and the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California in San Francisco. She is on the Editorial Boards of Psychoanalytic Dialogues, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Ricerca Psicoanalitica and Psychoanalytic Perspectives and is on the Board of the IARPP. She has a private practice; she sees individuals and couples, runs supervision, writing, and study groups, all in New York City. Born in 1950 in Brooklyn, N.Y., Slochower graduated from Clark University in 1972 with honors in Psychology. Her joint Ph.D. in Social and Clinical Psychology was awarded by Teachers College, Columbia University in 1975. Slochower holds a Certificate in Psychoanalysis from NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis and is a Board-Certified member of ABPP.

Slochower’s prolific writing career began in the late 1970s when she conducted a research program exploring the role of emotions in overeating. Her 1983 book Excessive Eating, along with a series of articles on eating behavior, are still widely read and cited. But it is her psychoanalytic writing that has had the greatest impact. In the 1980s Slochower developed what she termed a “relational holding model” that integrates Winnicottian holding with relational theory. Her 1996 book Holding and Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective expands the concept of holding in work around many emotional issues other than dependence. She both describes and theorizes the role of the analyst’s subjectivity in holding. Slochower’s third (2006) book—Psychoanalytic Collisions—addresses the space between the psychoanalytic ideal and the actuality of the therapist’s very human functioning. Second Editions of both books were released in 2014 by Routledge. Slochower, together with her colleagues Lew Aron and Sue Grand, co-edited two volumes in 2018 (De-idealizing Relational Theory: A Critique from Within” and “Decentering Relational Theory: A Comparative Critique . The volumes explore the excesses of psychoanalytic theorizing with a focus on relational theory. Her forthcoming 2024 book, Psychoanalysis and the Unspoken is in press with Routledge.

Slochower has published more than 100 articles addressing a range of other clinical issues. Many address the “underbelly” of various aspects of clinical theory and technique. Her work has been translated into Italian and French. She has lectured widely in Canada, Europe, Israel, Chile, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia.

Below is a list of her most important publications:
2023 Psychoanalysis and the Unspoken. Routledge, in press.

2023 Factions are Back. JAPA, in press.

2022 The absent witness: Mourning, virtually. ''Psychoanal. Perspectives'', v19(3): 253-268.

2022 Against the grain: On challenging assumptions, bridging theories, practicing self-critique, exposing underbellies, and doing the right thing. In Salberg, J. (Ed.): Psychoanalytic Credos: Personal and professional journeys of psychoanalysts. NY:  Routledge, pp. 142-151.

2022 Sequels. ''J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn''., 70(5): 845-873.

2021 A few regrets. ''Psychoanal. Dial''., 31(2): 166-180.

2020 On behalf of the child: Winnicott’s work during the war years. JAPA, 68 (5): 969 977.

2020 Resist this. ''Psychoanal. Dial'', 30, 64-72.

2019 Getting better all the time? ''Psychoanal. Dial''., 29: 548-559.

2018 Mamás psicoanalíticas y bebés psicoanalíticos: Una visión ampliada. Clínica e investigación Relacional. Vol 23.

2018 Deidealizing Relational Theory: A Critique from Within. L. Aron, S. Grand, & J. Slochower, Eds. London: Routledge.

2018 Decentering Relational Theory: A Comparative Critique. L. Aron, S. Grand, & J. Slochower, Eds. London: Routledge.

2018 D.W. Winnicott: holding, playing, and moving toward mutuality. In: Introduction to Contemporary Psychoanalysis: Defining Terms and Building Bridges. London: Routledge.

2018 Going too far: Relational heroines and relational excess. ''Psychoanal. Dial''., 27, 282-299.

2018 Don’t tell anyone. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 34: 195-200.

2015 Analisti genitori e pazienti e bambini? Un’indagine retrospettiva. Ricerca Psicoanalitica, 1:9-32.

2015 An erotic dream, an erotic collision. Annual of Psychoanalysis, 87-104.

2015 ''Collisioni Psicoanalitiche. '' Milano, Ferrari Sinibaldi.

2014 Idéalizations analytiques et le disavoué: Winnicott, ses patients, et nous.  Revue Francaise Psychanalyse, 78: 1136-1149.

2014 The professional idiom and the psychoanalytic other. In: Kuchuck, S. (ed), Clinical Implications of the Psychoanalyst’s Experience. New York: Routledge (pp. 36-48).

2014 Holding and Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective (2nd Edition). New York: Routledge.

2014 Psychoanalytic Collisions: (2nd Edition), New York: Routledge.

2014 Psychoanalytic mommies and psychoanalytic babies: a long view. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 49:606-628.

2013 Using Winnicott today: A relational perspective. Revue Roumaine de Psychanalyse. 2: 13-41.

2013 Analytic enclaves and analytic outcome: a clinical mystery. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 23: 243-258.

2012 L’idealizzazione nel rapporto con pazienti e allievi. Ricerca Psicoanalitica, 2:101-126.

2011 Out of the analytic shadow: On the dynamics of commemorative ritual. ''Psychoanal. Dial''., 21:676-690.

2011 Holding, collaborating, colliding: A cross theoretical conversation. ''Psychoanal. Inq''., 13: 501-512.

2011 Analytic idealizations and the disavowed: Winnicott, his patients, and us. ''Psychoanal. Dial.'' 21, 3-21.

2010 Las delinquencias secretas do analista. Jornal de Psicanalise, 43 (79):217-235.

2009 Los delitos secretos del analista. Clinica e Investigacion Relacional, 3 :111-126.

2008 Un uso intersoggettivo del sogno. Ricerca Psicoanalitica, 19:355-376.

2008 Del sostén a la colaboración: Una perspectiva relacional. In Winnicott Hoy. Madrid: Psamica, 361-383.

2006 Ma che cosa vuoi tu? Ricerca Psicoanalitica,: 17:135-162.

2006 Psychoanalytic Collisions, Hillsdale, N.J.: Analytic Press.

2004 But what do you want? The location of emotional experience. ''Contemp. Psychoanal''., 40:577 602.

2003 The analyst's secret delinquencies. '' Psychoanal. Dial., 13:451-469.''

2003Persistenza degli oggetti di attaccamento e illusioni in psicoanalisi. Ricerca Psicoanalitica, XIV: 277-294.

2002 L'esperienza dell'interiorità nel processo analitico.  Ricerca Psicoanalitica.  XIII,1: 15-34.

1999 Erotic complications. ''Internat. J. Psycho-Anal.'', 80:1119-1130.

1999 Interior experience in analytic process. ''Psychoanal. Dial.'', 9: 789-809.

1998 Illusion and uncertainty in psychoanalytic writing. ''Int. J. Psycho-Anal.'', 79:333-347.

1996 Holding and Psychoanalysis: A Relational Perspective. Hillsdale, N.J.: The Analytic Press.

1996 Holding and the evolving maternal metaphor. ''Psychoanal. Rev.'', 83: 195-218.

1996 The holding environment and the fate of the analyst's subjectivity. Psychoanal. Dial., 6:323-353.

1994 The evolution of object usage and the holding environment. ''Contemp. Psychoanal.'', 30: 135-151.

1993 Mourning and the holding function of shiva. ''Contemp. Psychoanal.'', 2: 352-367.

1992 A hateful borderline patient and the holding environment. ''Contemp. Psychoanal.'', 28: 72-88.

1991 Variations in the analytic holding environment. ''Int. J. Psycho-Anal.'', 72: 709-718.

1987 The psychodynamics of obesity. ''Psychoanal. Psychol.'', 4(2): 145-159.

1983 Excessive Eating: The Role of Emotions and Environment. New York: Human Sciences Press.

1981 Slochower, J., Kaplan, S.P. & Mann, L. The effects of life stress and weight on mood and

eating. Appetite, 2: 115-125.

1980 Slochower, J. & Kaplan, S.P. Anxiety, perceived control and eating in obese and normal weight individuals. Appetite, 1: 75-83.

1976 Emotional labeling and overeating in obese and normal weight individuals. Psychosomatic Medicine, 38: 131-139.