I am preparing this editorial in the context of increasingly worrying divisions in our society fuelled by politicians who resort to inflammatory language against those with different views. By contrast the articles in this issue are again a reminder of how psychoanalytic traditions of curiosity and reflectiveness about our own minds and the minds of others enable us to take up a third position and continue to think when, as Bion so memorably wrote, we ‘are under fire’. The two authors who write about doctors treating women who suffer stillbirths might well have felt outraged about some doctors’ callous attitudes but they were able to pursue a reflective, sympathetic study of the underlying reasons for such attitudes, and to indicate ways the doctors can be helped to manage the trauma of their work and help their patients to grieve. Another author is concerned about retirement in our profession, particularly about those who determine to ‘die in the saddle’ and in doing so may be abusing their clients. He could have been drawn to inciting punitive measures against such diehards but instead reflects upon his own difficulties in retiring and explores why giving up our professional life can prove so hard. The author of our third main paper about women’s psychosexual development might well have wanted to rage against the early psychoanalytic formulations about women’s sexuality but whilst she concentrates on the implications of more recent thinking she is also able to remind us of seminal insights of our forefathers and foremothers. Other articles and reviews continue in this tradition of curiosity and reflectiveness, a tradition and perhaps training so sorely needed by our current politicians. Maura Lapperman and Leslie Swartz in Care and the Politics of Shame: Medical Practitioners and Stillbirths in a South African District Hospital present a research study of the emotional experiences of doctors whose women patients, in an impoverished urban setting, suffer stillbirths. The authors follow the inspiration of Isabel Menzies' (1960) pioneering psychoanalytic study of nursing practices in a general hospital in which she developed the concept of social defences against anxiety employed by nurses and the hospital system which can have a negative impact on their patients. Lapperman and Swartz are concerned about the impact of the doctors’ responses to the mothers’ tragic bereavements on the mothers’ and fathers’ mourning for their dead babies. They use a research approach for in-depth individual interviews with doctors which follows the method of free association and pays attention to counter-transference responses of the interviewer in interpreting the data. The results of the study show that the doctors unanimously expressed a need for support for the emotional aspects of the work. Such support and training were mostly lacking. Not surprisingly, like Menzies’ snurses, the Psychodynamic Practice, 2019 Vol. 25, No. 4, 321–324, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2019.1677370

中文翻译：

---

社论

我正在准备这篇社论是在我们社会中日益令人担忧的分歧的背景下准备这篇社论的，这些分歧是由政客对持不同观点的人诉诸煽动性语言所助长的。相比之下，本期文章再次提醒我们，关于我们自己的思想和他人的思想的好奇和反思的精神分析传统如何使我们能够采取第三种立场并继续思考，正如比恩如此令人难忘地写道，我们“正在火中'。写关于医生治疗死产妇女的两位作者很可能对一些医生的冷酷态度感到愤怒，但他们能够对这种态度的根本原因进行反思和同情的研究，并指出医生可以采取的方式帮助管理他们工作的创伤并帮助他们的病人悲伤。另一位作者担心我们行业的退休，特别是那些决定“死在马鞍上”的人，这样做可能会虐待他们的客户。他本可以鼓励对这些顽固分子采取惩罚措施，但他反省自己在退休时遇到的困难，并探讨了为什么放弃我们的职业生涯会如此艰难。我们关于女性性心理发展的第三篇主要论文的作者很可能想对早期关于女性性行为的精神分析表述大发雷霆，但在她专注于最近思想的影响的同时，她也能够提醒我们我们祖先的开创性见解和前辈。其他文章和评论延续了这种好奇和反思的传统，我们当前的政治家非常需要一种传统，也许是培训。Maura Lapperman 和 Leslie Swartz 在《护理和耻辱的政治：南非地区医院的医生和死产》中展示了一项关于医生的情感体验的研究，这些医生的女性患者在贫困的城市环境中遭受死产。作者遵循伊莎贝尔·孟席斯 (Isabel Menzies) (1960) 对综合医院护理实践的开创性精神分析研究的启发，在该研究中，她发展了社会防御的概念，以应对护士和医院系统可能对患者产生负面影响的焦虑。Lapperman 和 Swartz 担心医生对母亲悲惨的丧亲之痛的反应对母亲和父亲为死去的婴儿的哀悼所产生的影响。他们采用研究方法对医生进行深入的个人访谈，遵循自由联想的方法，并关注访谈者在解释数据时的反移情反应。研究结果表明，医生们一致表示需要支持工作的情感方面。这种支持和培训大多缺乏。毫不奇怪，就像孟席斯的护士一样，心理动力学实践，2019 年卷。25, No. 4, 321–324, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2019.1677370 研究结果表明，医生们一致表示需要支持工作的情感方面。这种支持和培训大多缺乏。毫不奇怪，就像孟席斯的护士一样，心理动力学实践，2019 年卷。25, No. 4, 321–324, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2019.1677370 研究结果表明，医生们一致表示需要支持工作的情感方面。这种支持和培训大多缺乏。毫不奇怪，就像孟席斯的护士一样，心理动力学实践，2019 年卷。25, No. 4, 321–324, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2019.1677370