On Freud’s “Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through”


Book Description

In On Freud’s “Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through” international contributors from a range of psychoanalytic backgrounds reflect on this key 1914 paper. Each chapter considers an aspect of Freud’s original work, addressing both the theoretical and clinical dimensions of the paper and incorporating contemporary perspectives. Bringing out all three aspects of the paper’s title, the contributors consider the issues raised by the so-called change in psychoanalytic paradigm, from the classic central concern of remembering to a clinical experience which prioritises enactment and repetition. The reflections on this important paper demonstrate how it goes beyond technique to open new vistas on the conception of psychoanalysis as a whole. On Freud’s “Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through” will be essential reading for psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists in practice and in training. It will also be of interest to readers seeking a deeper understanding of current Freudian thinking.




History of Countertransference


Book Description

The constant and polymorphous development of the field of psychoanalysis since its inception has led to the evolution of a wide variety of psychoanalytic ‘schools’. In seeking to find common ground between them, Alberto Stefana examines the history of countertransference, a concept which has developed from its origins as an apparent obstacle, to become an essential tool for analysis, and which has undergone profound changes in definition and in clinical use. In History of Countertransference, Stefana follows the development of this concept over time, exploring a very precise trend which begins with the original notion put forward by Sigmund Freud and leads to the ideas of Melanie Klein and the British object relations school. The book explores the studies of specific psychoanalytic theorists and endeavours to bring to light how the input from each one may have been influenced by previous theories, by the personal history of the analyst, and by their historical-cultural context. By shedding light on how different psychoanalytic groups work with countertransference, Stefana helps the reader to understand the divergences that exist between them. This unique study of a key psychoanalytical concept will be essential reading for psychoanalysts in practice and in training, and academics and students of psychoanalytic studies and the history of psychology.







On Freud's "Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through"


Book Description

In On Freud's "Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through" international contributors from a range of psychoanalytic backgrounds reflect on this key 1914 paper. Each chapter considers an aspect of Freud's original work, addressing both the theoretical and clinical dimensions of the paper and incorporating contemporary perspectives. Bringing out all three aspects of the paper's title, the contributors consider the issues raised by the so-called change in psychoanalytic paradigm, from the classic central concern of remembering to a clinical experience which prioritises enactment and repetition. The reflections on this important paper demonstrate how it goes beyond technique to open new vistas on the conception of psychoanalysis as a whole. On Freud's "Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through" will be essential reading for psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists in practice and in training. It will also be of interest to readers seeking a deeper understanding of current Freudian thinking.




Modern Classics Beyond the Pleasure Principle


Book Description

in Freud's view we are driven by the desire for pleasure as well as by the desire to avoid pain. But the pursuit of pleasure has never been a simple thing. Pleasure can be a form of fear, a form of memory and a way of avoiding reality. Above all, as these essays show with remarkable eloquence, pleasure is a way in which we repeat ourselves. The essays collected in this volume explore, in Freud's uniquely subtle and accessible style, the puzzles of pleasure and morality - the enigmas of human development.




The Truth About Freud's Technique


Book Description

In this unusual and much-needed reappraisal of Freud's clinical technique, M. Guy Thompson challenges the conventional notion that psychoanalysis promotes relief from suffering and replaces it with a more radical assertion, that psychoanalysis seeks to mend our relationship with the real that has been fractured by our avoidance of the same. Thompson suggests that, while avoiding reality may help to relieve our experience of suffering, this short-term solution inevitably leads to a split in our existence. M. Guy Thompson forcefully disagrees with the recent trend that dismisses Freud as an historical figure who is out of step with the times. He argues, instead, for a return to the forgotten Freud, a man inherently philosophical and rooted in a Greek preoccupation with the nature of truth, ethics, the purpose of life and our relationship with reality. Thompson's argument is situated in a stunning re-reading of Freud's technical papers, including a new evaluation of his analyses of Dora and the Rat Man in the context of Heidegger's understanding of truth. In this remarkable examination of Freud's technical recommendations, M. Guy Thompson explains how psychoanalysis was originally designed to re-acquaint us with realities we had abandoned by encountering them in the contest of the analytic experience. This provocative examination of Freud's conception of psychoanalysis reveals a more personal Freud than we had previously supposed, one that is more humanistic and real.




Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences


Book Description

This Encyclopedia provides a comprehensive overview of individual differences within the domain of personality, with major sub-topics including assessment and research design, taxonomy, biological factors, evolutionary evidence, motivation, cognition and emotion, as well as gender differences, cultural considerations, and personality disorders. It is an up-to-date reference for this increasingly important area and a key resource for those who study intelligence, personality, motivation, aptitude and their variations within members of a group.




The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis


Book Description

The author's writings, and especially the seminars for which he has become famous, have provoked intense controversies in French analytic circles, requiring as they do a radical reappraisal of the legacy bequeathed by Freud. This volume is based on a year's seminar, which is of particular importance because he was addressing a larger, less specialist audience than ever before, amongst whom he could not assume familiarity with his work. For his listeners then, and for his readers now, he wanted "to introduce a certain coherence into the major concepts on which psycho-analysis is based", namely the unconscious, repetition, the transference and the drive. In re-defining these four concepts he explores the question that, as he puts it, moves from "Is psycho-analysis a science?" to "What is a science that includes psycho-analysis?"




International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis


Book Description

The International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis considers all aspects of the history and modern practice of psychoanalysis in 50 countries, including the relationship between psychoanalysis and other disciplines. Articles include discussion of 900 concepts and notions, 360 biographies of the world's major psychoanalysts and 170 articles on their major works.




Process Facilitation in Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Social Work


Book Description

Process Facilitation in Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Social Work elaborates a differential theory of therapeutic engagement with full reference not only to psychoanalysis and to psychotherapy but also – surprisingly – to social work. When contemporary social work with the marginalised achieves mutual constructive collaboration, social workers characteristically notice an unfolding process. Could this correspond to the ‘analytic process’ of psychoanalysis? Sylvia O’Neill seeks to explain theoretically, and to illustrate clearly in practice, just how a quasi-autonomous therapeutic process becomes established. The theory underpinning the book is Jean-Luc Donnet’s conceptualisation of the establishment of the analytic process in psychoanalysis through introjection of the analytic setting. Donnet designates the psychoanalytic setting as the analytic ‘site’. O’Neill proceeds to trace, by means of detailed clinical discussion, the analogous process by which a viable therapeutic process can become established through created/found discovery and introjection of the relevant ‘site’ or setting in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and in social work. Amongst the most important elements are the practitioner’s internalised theoretical principles. The book demonstrates that unconscious introjection figures more importantly in effective therapeutic engagement than a conscious therapeutic alliance. An important corollary for social work is that, contrary to popular myth, no prior psychological-mindedness is required. The differential theory of Process Facilitation in Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Social Work is equally relevant to psychodynamic counselling.