Monday, May 24, 2010

The Gay Harry Stack Sullivan – by Mark J. Blechner, Ph.D.


Interactions Between His Life, Clinical Work, And Theory

Abstract: Harry Stack Sullivan, the founder of interpersonal psychoanalysis, was a gay man. His sexuality, far from being an incidental aspect of his life, was integral to his clinical and theoretical innovations. Sullivan was also a pathbreaker in dealing with many aspects of gay civil rights that are still at issue today. Sullivan’s writings about lust and sexuality have been difficult to understand and relatively ignored. When one decodes Sullivan’s neologisms, one can appreciate how he was working toward a radical new formulation of sexuality’s place in human living. Read more by Mark J. Blechner, Ph.D. Photo 

Mark J. Blechner, Ph.D. | Website


REFERENCES

Allen, M. (1995), Sullivan’s closet: A reappraisal of Harry Stack Sullivan’s life and his pioneering
role in American psychiatry. Journal of Homosexuality, 29:1–18.

Archuleta, M. (1998), Suicide statistics for lesbian and gay youth: A bibliography. http://
isd.usc.edu/ retter/suicstats.html.

Be´rube´, A. (1990), Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World
War Two. New York: Free Press.

Blechner, M. (1995), The shaping of psychoanalytic theory and practice by cultural and
personal biases about sexuality. In: Disorienting Sexuality, ed. T. Domenici & R. Lesser.
New York: Routledge, pp. 265–288.

Blechner, M. (1996), Psychoanalysis in and out of the closet. In: The Therapist as a Person:
Life Crises, Life Choices, Life Experiences, and Their Effects on Treatment, ed. B. Gerson.
Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press, pp. 223–239.

Blechner, M. (1998), Maleness and masculinity. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 34:597–613.

Blechner, M. (2002), Intimacy, pleasure, risk, and safety. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy,
6:27–33.

Blechner, M. (2005), Disgust, desire, and fascination: Psychoanalytic, cultural, historical,
and neuroscientific perspectives. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 6:33–45.

Chatelaine, K. (1981), Harry Stack Sullivan: The Formative Years. Washington, DC: University
Press of America.

Chauncey, G. (1994), Gay New York. New York: Basic Books.


Ferenczi, S. (1924), Versuch einer Genitaltheorie. Leipzig: Internationale psychoanalytische

Verlag. Eng. trans.: Thalassa: A Theory of Genitality, trans. H. Bunker, London: Maresfield
Library (Karnac), 1989.

Greenberg, J. & Mitchell, S. (1983), Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.

Harned, J. (1998), Harry Stack Sullivan and the gay psychoanalysis. American Imago, 55:
299–317.

Hirschfeld, M. (1914), The Homosexuality of Men and Women, trans. M. Lombardi-Nash.
Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2000.

Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W. & Martin, C. (1948), Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Philadelphia,
PA: W. B. Saunders.

Krafft-Ebing, R. von (1886), Psychopathia Sexualis, Trans F. Klaf. New York: Stein & Day,
1965.

Perry, H. (1982), Psychiatrist of America: The Life of Harry Stack Sullivan. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.

Sullivan, H. (1925), The oral complex. Psychoanalytic Review, 12:31–38.

Sullivan, H. (1926), Erogenous maturation. Psychoanalytic Review, 12:1–15.

Sullivan, H. (1927), Tentative criteria for malignancy in schizophrenia. American Journal
of Psychiatry, 84:759–782.

Sullivan, H. (1940), Conceptions of Modern Psychiatry. New York: Norton.

No comments: