Book Announcements by Ann D’Ercole (USA)

Clara M. Thompson’s Early Years and Professional Awakening: An American Psychoanalyst (1893-1933)

Ann D’Ercole tells the story of Clara M. Thompson, drawing extensively on unpublished archival interviews and correspondence, to provide a full and complex picture of an early American pioneer of psychoanalysis.

The book begins by exploring Thompson’s youth, which was steeped in evangelical Christianity, and conveys the difficulty that Thompson experienced as she resisted the restrictive conventions of femininity prevalent at the time. Despite this, Thompson’s talent as a student continually shines through, as D’Ercole gives readers an account of Thompson’s life at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where she worked alongside the innovative psychiatrist, Adolf Meyer.

Thompson’s ground-breaking theoretical and clinical achievements continue to be celebrated, as D’Ercole explores Thompson’s life-changing experiences while in psychoanalytic treatment with Sándor Ferenczi. By allowing her voice to prevail, Clara M. Thompson’s Early Years and Professional Awakening (Routledge) recognizes Thompson’s vital work in the formulation of interpersonal psychoanalysis, rendering it invaluable for interpersonal psychoanalysts wishing to understand her role in the development of the school.

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

Beginning in 1933 after Sandor Ferenczi’s death, Clara M. Thompson’s Professional Evolution and Legacy (Routledge), Ann D’Ercole’s second volume, draws extensively from interviews, personal correspondence, and scholarly essays to explore the latter part of Clara Thompson’s life and professional career. The text affords an understanding of Thompson’s development with the luminaries who influenced her, and whom 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, Thompson’s pioneering essays expand the psychoanalytic perspective to embrace the dynamic interpersonal encounter between patient and analyst. Critical of Freud’s views on women, Thompson also argues against the inequality of women and men in society, reflecting her own moral compass. This volume clarifies Thompson’s 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.

Ann D’Ercole, Ph.D., ABPP is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology at New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis and Distinguished Visiting Faculty at the William Alanson White Institute. She is Co-Editor of Uncoupling Convention: Psychoanalytic Approaches to Same-Sex Couples and Families (Routledge, 2004) and author of essays on gender and sexuality. Dr. D’Ercole is in private practice in New York City.

Ann D’Ercole, Ph.D., ABPP
New York, NY, USA
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