In , Freud developed an influential and highly controversial theory for understanding anti-Semitism as blowback against monotheism, specifically against the Jewish people's form of (intellectuality/spirituality) and the...In , Freud developed an influential and highly controversial theory for understanding anti-Semitism as blowback against monotheism, specifically against the Jewish people's form of (intellectuality/spirituality) and the notion of exclusive chosenness. Against the backdrop of the recent global rise of anti-Semitism, white supremacy, and violence in the name of religion, this essay reviews a collection of nine fresh perspectives on Freud's text in by authors from a cross section of the humanities. They critically engage Freud's seminal thoughts on the nature of religion and violence, tradition and history, trauma and repression, hermeneutics and the transgenerational transmission of identity. Connecting with Freud's ideas on , the chosen people, the superego, and sublimation, and Drewermann's insights into the historical connection between monotheism and the development of the human sense of personhood, the essay concludes with a proposal for countering anti-Semitism and religious violence through a reinterpretation of the meaning of monotheism.
Psychoanalysis has long grappled with understanding and defining termination. Freud came to some pessimistic conclusions about it toward the end of his life. Later, especially in the United States, the field developed so...Psychoanalysis has long grappled with understanding and defining termination. Freud came to some pessimistic conclusions about it toward the end of his life. Later, especially in the United States, the field developed some rigid ideas about endings in psychoanalysis. Heinz Kohut, through his wide-ranging ideas about what he came to call self psychology, brought a sense of openness, fluidity, and nonlinearity to our understanding of termination. His ideas lie scattered throughout his writings, as he never developed a coherent theory of endings in treatment. This paper brings together those thoughts and argues that Kohut prefigures more recent writings about termination, especially by self and relational psychoanalysts. It places Kohut's thoughts on termination in the context of his view of the self as tilting toward cohesion and wholeness, gently nudging the listing ship upright. Termination marks the often vague and indeterminate, yet real, point of mutual recognition of that wholeness.
Daydreams and night dreams are similar in that both share the wish fulfillment aspect of dreaming. Even though the difference between day and night dreams is obvious-daydreams happen when a person is awake (conscious) an...Daydreams and night dreams are similar in that both share the wish fulfillment aspect of dreaming. Even though the difference between day and night dreams is obvious-daydreams happen when a person is awake (conscious) and night dreams happen when a person is asleep (unconscious)-the boundary between day and night dreams becomes blurred when the ego has been severely compromised. The focus of this paper is on the analysis of daydreaming and its relationship to the ego. As in the analysis of nocturnal dreams, analysis of daydreams provides another opportunity for discovery of repressed material. Analysis of daydream material also provides an opportunity to assess the development of a patient's ego. When development of the ego has been severely compromised, daydreaming may become a mechanism of defense. A literature review is presented, followed by discussion of daydreaming and the ego. Case examples illustrate major points in the discussion.
The psychological processes involved during the transition to motherhood are capable of transforming addiction problems. Notably, these processes can facilitate the reorganization of object relations and allow the invest...The psychological processes involved during the transition to motherhood are capable of transforming addiction problems. Notably, these processes can facilitate the reorganization of object relations and allow the investment in the real child, whose otherness is gradually acknowledged. This investment, however, differs from one woman to another and depends on each woman's ability to gradually incorporate and develop, first, the psychological and physical changes induced by pregnancy and, second, the issues remobilized by the regression induced by caring for the baby. This period is often fragile and is frequently influenced by the neonatal abstinence syndrome and by marital dynamics, which may lead to a drug relapse.
My first experience in analysis with a classically trained analyst left an unexpected but profound imprint on me. After enduring that kind of one-person analysis for eleven years, I was not left with a favorable impressi...My first experience in analysis with a classically trained analyst left an unexpected but profound imprint on me. After enduring that kind of one-person analysis for eleven years, I was not left with a favorable impression of the method. Originally trained as a classical psychoanalyst, I have since chosen to work intersubjectively and interactively, and I am shifting more deliberately and with more conviction toward an assimilative integrative psychotherapy approach. In this paper I tell the story of my personal analysis and outline the conclusions I have drawn from it that created a seismic shift in my way of thinking and working as a psychoanalyst.
Is the fourth chapter of Masud Khan's last book an expression of the author's presumed anti-Semitism, or does it demonstrate a forceful new psychotherapeutic technique? Objective reading of the controversial case materia...Is the fourth chapter of Masud Khan's last book an expression of the author's presumed anti-Semitism, or does it demonstrate a forceful new psychotherapeutic technique? Objective reading of the controversial case material within the context of Khan's stated intention indicates that Khan was attempting to introduce an effective way of managing aggression with patients who often had been considered analytically untreatable. The author further suggests that the limited ability of analysis at that time to encompass the understanding and treatment of aggression in personality disorder contributed to Khan's own individual issues, as well as the intensifying of animosity between Khan and the British Psycho-Analytic Society.
The film , in conjunction with other films in the series, can be read as both a portrait of midlife and as the keystone in an expansive critique of group relations. A family of concepts related to , identified by Erik E...The film , in conjunction with other films in the series, can be read as both a portrait of midlife and as the keystone in an expansive critique of group relations. A family of concepts related to , identified by Erik Erikson, is used to interpret this unusually mature instance of the superhero movie. Individuals and societies that stumble over the task of becoming may be expected to fall into or extremes of : the treatment of particular groups as so radically different from one's own that they are beyond the scope of . This essay traces the evolution of Logan toward greater and , and contrasts his character with others from the series who exemplify successes and failures in this task. Real-life vicissitudes of are also discussed in relation to survivors of the Holocaust and other contemporary groups that may be treated as .
Eager to distance himself from the clinical mistreatment and theoretical arrogance shown toward a gender-variant population, a self-identified cis-gendered male clinician-researcher narrates his experiences, difficulties...Eager to distance himself from the clinical mistreatment and theoretical arrogance shown toward a gender-variant population, a self-identified cis-gendered male clinician-researcher narrates his experiences, difficulties, and doubts from a psychoanalytic standpoint in his interactions with a transgender adult in an institutional setting. He thus addresses from a pluralistic perspective the intrapsychic concerns and sociocultural norms that contribute to the patient's suffering, as well as the therapist's own vulnerability and countertransference challenges in this situation. By reflecting on the very traps that he fell into when writing a previous version of this article, the author proposes a focused narrative, co-signed by his supervisor, to provide the reader with a cautionary tale of how easily a clinician's efforts to understand may devolve into objectifications embedded in the history of analytic thinking.
Most analysts who write about the Oedipus complex, including Loewald and Ogden, do not seem to differentiate between the oedipal "killing" as opposed to murdering one's parent. Life, and especially growing up, entail mor...Most analysts who write about the Oedipus complex, including Loewald and Ogden, do not seem to differentiate between the oedipal "killing" as opposed to murdering one's parent. Life, and especially growing up, entail more than one act of "killing," on both the child's and the parents' sides. If there is a benign resolution to the oedipal conflict, then this is a "soft" killing, which acts on behalf of life, or at least can be experienced as an inevitable part of it. Under less favorable circumstances, such as excessive deprivation, oedipal parricide amounts to a murderous act against one's parent, which will not result in psychic growth, but in melancholia and other psychic disturbances. This difference will be discussed in light of Loewald's and Ogden's reconceptualization of the Oedipus complex and Fairbairn's conception of the basic trauma of the infant/child, in relation to the mother's rejection of his or her love.
Psychoanalysis can't treat addicts; Alcoholics Anonymous can't treat neurotics. Contrasting the two proffered therapeutics, they are obviously opposed as a rich discourse and a banality of letters or as individual and gr...Psychoanalysis can't treat addicts; Alcoholics Anonymous can't treat neurotics. Contrasting the two proffered therapeutics, they are obviously opposed as a rich discourse and a banality of letters or as individual and group therapy. And yet they emerged as one confused tangle in the cocaine addiction of Sigmund Freud. Finally, both have been condemned as bourgeois constructions, as the discourse of capitalism.
The possibility that psychic development precedes the advent of the drives and object relations has received attention periodically in the psychoanalytic literature. In addition to examining its origins, several writers...The possibility that psychic development precedes the advent of the drives and object relations has received attention periodically in the psychoanalytic literature. In addition to examining its origins, several writers (e.g., Balint, Bleger) have also considered its implication for treatment. The aim of this paper is to examine in greater detail the theoretical and clinical utility of distinguishing a core psyche from that of an ego psyche. Case material will also be presented to further compare and contrast these two clinical constructs.
This paper seeks to establish that the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis derives from two sources: the work with the trailing edge and the work with the leading edge, concepts introduced by Tolpin. While the work with...This paper seeks to establish that the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis derives from two sources: the work with the trailing edge and the work with the leading edge, concepts introduced by Tolpin. While the work with the trailing edge or the repetitive transference is what psychoanalysis has always focused on when defining the therapeutic action, the work with the leading edge, for which the concept of the generative transference is introduced, has remained underdeveloped.
Winnicott's perspective on psychosomatic illness as a phenomenon that bridges the unconscious and the conscious will be discussed using, using clinical material and Kafka's short story "A Hunger Artist." The author makes...Winnicott's perspective on psychosomatic illness as a phenomenon that bridges the unconscious and the conscious will be discussed using, using clinical material and Kafka's short story "A Hunger Artist." The author makes use of Winnicott's ideas in discussing the idea that psychosomatic symptoms, or illness, are not necessarily a form of acting out in need of elimination, but a nonverbal "language" in need of a listener. The author describes clinical cases in which the psychosomatic symptom was treated as a sign of something that went wrong within the mother-infant relationship, which has awaited a good-enough environmental provision to enable the creation of a new meaning.
Developing Lacan's idea of "hystory," the following reading of D. H. Lawrence's story "The Lovely Lady" considers the personal and historical as deeply entwined, both in their oppression and potential liberation. The lad...Developing Lacan's idea of "hystory," the following reading of D. H. Lawrence's story "The Lovely Lady" considers the personal and historical as deeply entwined, both in their oppression and potential liberation. The lady, who represents the order of bourgeois idealism, discovers the key to eternal youth, each night vampirically feeding off the erotic energy of her son. This essay views the story as an allegory of modern life as a dead zone of alienation, in which "hystory" is comprised of the web of transgenerational phantoms, traumas of the past, and haunting secrets from the crypt of the (m)other's unconscious.
Historically, psychoanalysis has positioned the Oedipus complex as its focal point, based on a parental configuration of two-parent families consisting of a (male) father and a (female) mother. The modern era allows, alb...Historically, psychoanalysis has positioned the Oedipus complex as its focal point, based on a parental configuration of two-parent families consisting of a (male) father and a (female) mother. The modern era allows, albeit highly ambivalently, for the diversity of marital and parental configurations, reflecting cultural change as well as advances in the medical-technology of in vitro fertilization and of sperm and egg donations. The author discusses the analyses of two lesbian women who have chosen to mother a baby via an anonymous sperm donation. The author then takes up the question of whether unconscious oedipal conflicts influenced the decisions these patients made. She also questions whether the father in contemporary analytic thinking needs be a (male) "father" who is the "third," the "other." The work of Freud, Loewald, Searles, Poland, Ogden, and others will be brought to bear on these questions.
Much has been written about envy, but virtually no attention has been paid to the victim of an envious attack and the effect on this victim's life and creativity. The author's ongoing work helping therapists who work wit...Much has been written about envy, but virtually no attention has been paid to the victim of an envious attack and the effect on this victim's life and creativity. The author's ongoing work helping therapists who work with creative patients has shown that not only can patients' envy their analysts' creativity, but that therapists and analysts can envy their patients' creativity. The therapists' envy of their patients represents a formidable obstacle in their attempts to help their creative patients. What little attention has been paid to this issue has been in the analysis of countertransference reactions to the patient's envious attacks on the analyst.