Our changing views of the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis: comparing Strachey and Loewald.

A comparison of Strachey and Loewald on the nature of therapeutic action reveals a deep shift in analytic interest away from the structural point of view and toward object relational and interpersonal frames of reference. Loewald's theoretical and technical revisions are far more sweeping than is usually acknowledged, and we can better benefit from his contribution by recognizing the full extent of his originality. Loewald's work also illuminates a major challenge for contemporary psychoanalysis: the need for an integration of the now disparate languages of metapsychology and clinical process.