Covering the last four decades of the 20th century, this book explores the unwritten history of the struggles between psychoanalysis and psychiatry in postwar USA, inaugurated by the neosomatic revolution, which had profound consequences for the treatment of psychotic patients. Analyzing and synthesizing major developments in this critical and clinical field, Orna Ophir discusses how leading theories redefined what schizophrenia is and how to treat it, offering a fresh interpretation of the nature and challenges of the psychoanalytic profession. The book also considers the internal dynamics and conflicts within mental health organizations, their theoretical paradigms and therapeutic practices. Opening a timely debate, considering both the continuing relevance and the inherent limitations of the psychoanalytic approach, the book demonstrates how psychoanalysts reinterpreted their professional identity by formalizing and disseminating knowledge among their fellow practitioners, while negotiating with neighboring professions in the medical fields, such as psychiatry, pharmacology and the burgeoning neurosciences. Chapters explore the ways in which psychoanalysts constructed – and also transgressed upon – the boundaries of their professional identity and practice as they sought to understand schizophrenia and treat its patients. The book argues that among the many relationships psychoanalysis sustained with psychiatry, some weakened their own social role as service providers, while others made the theory and practice of psychoanalysis a viable contender in the jurisdictional struggles between professions. Psychosis, Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry in Postwar USA will appeal to researchers, academics, graduate students and advanced undergraduates who are interested in the history of psychoanalysis, psychiatry, the medical humanities and the history of science and ideas. It will also be of interest to clinicians, health care professionals and other practitioners.

A Story of Her Own reviews and evaluates existing psychoanalytic theories about the 'female oedipal complex, ' from early theories by Freud to contemporary writings from many theoretical frameworks. Important aspects of the female triangular complex are examined in detail: entr..

In this volume Paul Roazen examines different national responses to Freud and the beginnings of psychoanalysis. He examines Freud's work in the contexts of law, society, and class, as well as other forms of psychology. Encountering Freud includes a brilliant essay on Freud and the question of psychoanalysis' contribution to radical thought, in contrast to the conservative tradition. Roazen takes up the extravagant claims of Marcuse and Reich, and sees the risks of then overglamorization of the beginnings of psychoanalysis as a profession. Roazen views the legacies of Harry Stack Sullivan, Helene Deutsch, and Erik H. Erikson as less rich because their work conformed to the social status quo. He sees Freud's inability to avoid an ambiguous outcome as a lack of concern with normality and a refusal to own up to the wide variety of psychological solutions he found both therapeutically tolerable and humanly desirable. Roazen concludes with a series of explorations on the dichotomies Freud left behind: clinical discoveries versus philosophical standpoints; the relationship of normality to nihilism; and a defense of a therapeutic setting based on trained specialists versus a therapeutic approach encouraging self-expression. This is a volume that utilizes a sharp focus on Freud and his followers and dissenters to explore the question of political psychology at one end and psych-history at the other end of analysis.

Metapsychology and the Foundations of Psychoanalysis redresses faults in Freud’s original conception to develop a coherent theoretical basis for psychodynamic theory. Simon Boag demonstrates that Freud’s much maligned ‘metapsychology’, once revised, can provide a foundation for evaluating and integrating the plethora of psychodynamic perspectives, by developing a philosophically-informed position that addresses the embodied, interconnected relationship between motivation, cognition and affects. The book centres upon the major concepts in psychoanalysis, including the notion of unconscious mental processes, wish-fulfilment, fantasy, and repression. Both philosophical considerations and empirical evidence are brought to bear upon these topics, and used to extract the valuable insights from major approaches. As a result, Boag’s revised general psychology, which stays true to Freud’s intention, addresses psychoanalytic pluralism and shows it is possible to develop a unified account, integrating the insights from attachment theory and object relational approaches and acknowledging the rightful role for neuropsychoanalysis. Metapsychology and the Foundations of Psychoanalysis will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, philosophers of mind and psychologists, as well as anyone concerned with neuropsychoanalysis or psychoanalysis and attachment theory.

In Psychoanalytic Object Relations Therapy, Althea Horner explores the clinical implications of developmental object relations theory. She considers the importance of finding the interpersonal metaphor embedded in the patient's material, the various kinds of interventions made by the therapist, and the multiple ways the patient uses the therapist, such as a selfobject, a container, and an object for identification. Eight case presentations demonstrate Horner's theoretical contributions.

This book is a bibliography of Melanie Klein's writings together with other books, articles, and papers, dealing with her life, ideas and work. It is of immense potential use for clinicians, students, and researchers.

Freud and the Politics of Psychoanalysis is a sympathetic critique of Freud's work, tracing its political content and context from his early writings on hysteria to his late essays on civilization and religion. Brunner's central claim is that politics is a pervasive and essential component of all of Freud's discourse, since Freud viewed both the psyche and society primarily as constellations of power and domination. Brunner shows that when read politically, Freud's discourse can be seen to unite mechanics and meaning into a plausible, fruitful and internally consistent theory of the mind, therapy, family and society. Part one deals with the medical and political background of Freud's work. It explains how Freud postulated mental principles that were the same for all races and nations. The second part is concerned with the logic and language of Freud's theory of the mind. Brunner also details how Freud introduced dynamics of dominance and subjugation into the very core of the psyche. Part three addresses dynamics of power in the clinical setting, which Freud forged out of a curious blend of authoritarian and liberal elements. Brunner focuses on how this setting creates an arena for verbal politics. He also examines various social factors that influenced the therapeutic practice of psychoanalysis, such as class, gender and education. Part four explores Freud's analysis of the family and large-scale social institutions. Though Brunner is critical of the authoritarian bias in Freud's social theory, he suggests that it provides a useful vocabulary to unmask hidden psychological aspects of domination and subjection. This is an essential book for those interested in the history of ideas and psychoanalysis. Jos Brunner is Senior Lecturer at the Buchmann Faculty of Law and the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, both at Tel Aviv University. Born in Zrich, Switzerland, he has been living in Israel for most of the last three decades. He is author of numerous publications on the history and politics of psychoanalysis and contemporary political theory.

The editors of the present volume were also privileged to collaborate on an earlier book, Intimacy, also published by Plenum Press. In our pref ace to that volume, we described the importance and essence of inti macy and its centrality in the domain of human relationships. After reading the contributions to that volume, a number of issues emerged and pressed for elaboration. These questions concerned the nature and parameters of intimacy. The natural extension of these con cerns can be found in the current work, Self-Disclosure in the Therapeutic Relationship. The editors, after careful consideration of the theoretical, philo sophical, and technical literature, are impressed by the relationship between intimacy and appropriate self-disclosure. Self-disclosure, in this context, refers to those behaviors that allow oneself to be suffi ciently revealing so as to become available for an intimate relationship. Levenson has referred to psychotherapy as the demystification of expe rience wherein intimacy emerges during the time that interpersonal vigilance diminishes through growing feelings of safety. Interpersonal experience can be demystified and detoxified by disclosure, openness, and authentic relatedness. This is not an easy process. Before one can be open, make contact, or reach out with authenticity, one must be available to oneself. This means making contact with-and accepting-the dark, fearful, and of ten untouched areas within the person that are often hidden even from oneself. The process of therapy enables those areas to gain conscious ness, be tolerated, and be shared with trusted others.