A Remembrance of Philip M. Bromberg

Abstract

Abstract This essay is dedicated to Philip M. Bromberg whose influence the author found to be transformative, both professionally and personally. The memories capture the relational intimacy experienced with Philip Bromberg during particularly vulnerable moments. Each memory is also used to illustrate the clinical presence needed to hold the disparate self-states inherent to dissociation. A brief case discussion applies the me/not me paradigm to the dynamics of “othering the analyst,” based on socioeconomic differences. The essay concludes with the recognition that undoing elements of dissociation expand our subjectivity in ways that stimulate our creativity.