Reddit reviews Freud and Beyond: A History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought

Until more recently, it wasn't common to find books/articles on "how to do" psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The knowledge of how to perform the therapy came from the therapist's training analysis, which, going back to Freud, used to be the only requirement for becoming a psychoanalyst (cf. The question of Lay Analysis by Freud). However, there are now some "psychodynamic" therapies that provide a "how to" look at therapy using psychoanalytic principles. Two that I am familiar with are Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy or ISTDP and Brief Dynamic Therapywhich is a little better in my opinion. Glen Gabbard, who I like a lot, has also written a text that lays out some of the basics of psychotherapy from an analytic perspective.

Speaking of Gabbard, I highly recommend his text Psychodynamic Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. It provides an overview of some of the major psychoanalytic theories (drive, ego, object, self). Unfortunately he doesn't cover Lacan, and briefly touches on intersubjectivity. Another book in this vein (without the diagnostic applications) is Freud and Beyond by Stephen Mitchell and Margaret Black. Not to diminish Dr. Black, but Stephen Mitchell is really great. I recommend anything by him, especially Hope and Dread in Psychoanalysis and Relationality.

Finally, any recommendation on contemporary American psychoanalytic writing would be incomplete without mentioning Thomas Ogden, especially The Matrix of the Mind and The Primitive Edge of Experience. His more recent works are great as well, but a little more nebulous and might be less applicable to beginning psychoanalytic work.

Oh, and I can't help but recommend this little book by Owen Renik Practical Psychoanalysis. Renik is great, and I really enjoy is work, especially his thinking on "getting real in psychoanalysis." Though he is far from the traditional views of analytic neutrality and abstinence.

Hello lilrevolution,

If you are looking for a case-based approach, then try Irvin Yalom's book Love's Executioner. It is a series of cases from a psychotherapist's point of view. Very good read and great place to start.

History of psychotherapy explored in a very engaging and informative way is: Freud and Beyond:
http://www.amazon.com/Freud-Beyond-History-Psychoanalytic-Thought/dp/0465014054/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342420993&sr=1-1&keywords=freud+and+beyond

If you are looking for learning from a medical student's point of view with cases, then try Blueprints Clinical Cases in Psychiatry or other similar books. Another excellent author is David Robinson, who has written a series of books (on personality disorders and mental status exams, along with other topics), one example is:
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Reel-Portrayals-Psychiatric-Conditions/dp/1894328299/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342420783&sr=8-2&keywords=reel+to+real+robinson

A fantastic series of books is the American Psychiatric Publishing Concise Guides series. The topics range from Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, to Psychopharmacology, to Addictions:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=american+psychiatric+publishing+concise+guide&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aamerican+psychiatric+publishing+concise+guide

A lot of non-medication related work in related fields is written by psychologists or other allied health care staff. If you are interested in different modalities of treatment then different authors come to mind. One example is Nancy Mcwilliams - a gifted author and psychotherapist, but may be a bit of a harder read as it is more didactic and meant to be much more educational than Yalom's Love's Executioner.

With respect to fiction, then medical school classics are The House of God by Samuel Shem, and the psychiatric-focused follow up, Mount Misery.

Let me know if I can recommend anything more specific.

https://www.amazon.com/Freud-Beyond-History-Psychoanalytic-Thought/dp/0465014054

https://www.amazon.com/Psychotherapy-Human-Science-Daniel-Burston/dp/0820703788