The riddle of femininity: the interplay of primary femininity and the castration complex in analytic listening.

This study elucidates the application of an analytic attitude to questions of gender and sexuality. The paper reports on a study group's exploration of the relative heuristic use of two important organising concepts in analytic work with female analysands: primary feminity and the phallic castration complex. A tendency to cling to one position over the other skews analytic listening.

Hearing what cannot be seen: a psychoanalytic research group's inquiry into female sexuality.

Advances in the theoretical understanding of female psychology are not easily integrated into psychoanalytic practice. This paper reports on a study of female psychology and clinical practice by a group of seven female psychoanalysts. Through discussing the literature and case vignettes, we discovered a lag between current theoretical ideas and our clinical practice.

Field dependence in young anorectic and obese women.

Bruch and other clinicians working with patients suffering from eating disorders have noted substantial similarity between obese individuals and those with anorexia nervosa with regard to difficulties in achieving autonomous functioning. Although research has substantially supported this view for obese persons, some studies of anorectics have portrayed them as no different from or even more autonomous than normally weighted controls. In an attempt to clarify this discrepancy, the present study evaluated field dependence, a psychological measure reflecting autonomy, among 16 subjects with anorexia nervosa, 16 obese subjects and 16 normally weighted controls.