Psychoanalysis of Symptoms

Henry Kellerman, Ph.D. is training analyst and senior supervisor at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health in New York City. He is the author and editor of numerous works and scientific papers and was the editor of the Columbia University book series Personality, Psychopathology, and Psychotherapy: Theoretical and Clinical Perspectives. A former National Institute of Mental Health Fellow, Dr. Kellerman is also a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Group Psychotherapy Association. He maintains a private psychoanalytic practice in New York City. Anthony Burry, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst and Diplomate at the American Board of Assessment Psychology. He was formerly the Director of Psychology Internship training, supervisor, and faculty member at the Postgraduate Center of Mental Health. Dr. Burry was also Director of Psychological Evaluation at Comprehensive Psychological Services, and a Senior Supervisor of school mental health programs at the Brooklyn Center for Psychotherapy. He maintains a private practice in psychotherapy and psychodiagnostic testing in New York City.

In this volume, Dr. Henry Kellerman has constructed a lens through which the inner working of pscyhological symptoms can be clearly seen. Along with this he has proposed a code for unraveling such symptoms. He then carefully applies this symptom-code, in detail, to a wide variety of symptoms. This is an important psychoanalytic work; and elegant conception, elegantly presented. -- Harry Sands, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Editor, Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis; and Former President, New York State Psychological Association In a compelling theoretical synthesis, Dr. Kellerman proposes that the only phenomenon in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy subject to cure is the patient's psychological symptom. All else is helping the patient struggle better. An X-ray of the symptom is developed and a method to efficiently penetrate the symptom is demonstrated. The important contribution here is that Kellerman has distilled the four basic elements that comprise a symptom-code -- a universal key that unlocks symptoms. I believe this work is a tour de force, and constitutes a classic advance psychoanalytic understanding. -- Vincenzo Conigliaro, M.D., Dean and Medical Director, Training Institute for Mental Health Dr. Kellerman introduces a system called the symptom-code that enables clinicians to understand and treate a wide variety of debilitating symptoms. Much of Dr. Kellerman's case material reads like a detective story in which the symptom-code is applied and the meaning of the symptom becomes readily apparent. The reader will find these cases fascinating and the explanations given by Dr. Kellerman quite convincing. -- Mary Beth M. Cresci, Past President, Section of Psychologist/Psychoanalyst Practitioners

• Theoretical Context.- History of Symptom Psychology.- Underpinnings of the Symptom Code.- The Symptom-Code and Its Application.- On Wishes, Symptoms, and Withdrawal.- The Clinical Casebook: Accessible Symptoms.- Bottles Under the Bed: A Case of Compulsion.- Holes: A Case of Body Delusion.- Symptoms Based Upon Feelings of Rejection:.- Gazing at Corpses: A Case of Morbid Compulsion.- Sin of the Priest: A Case of Obsession.- Ingenious Regression: A Case of Hallucination.- Panic on the Bridge: A Case of Selective Agoraphobia.- “I Can Hardly Move”: A Case of a Three-Day Migraine.- Doubled Over: A Case of Displaced Phallic Obsession.- The Clinical Casebook: Inaccessible Symptoms.- The Psychology of Blushing: Involuntary Disclosure.- “No Writing!”: A Case of Delusional Self-Incrimination.- “I’m Not Going To Work Today”: A Case of Agoraphobia.- Chaos: A Case of Compulsive Collecting and Hoarding.- “Not Thin Enough!”: A Case of Anorexia.- Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Case of “Split Personality”.- An Asperger’s Mind: An Examination of the Case of Nobelian John Forbes Nash, Jr..- Examining Theoretical Issues of the Symptom-Code.- Acting Out: The First Symptom, and the Primacy of Anger or Sex.- Symptoms Versus Character Traits: Accessible Versus Inaccessible Symptoms.- The Metamorphosis of Symptoms: The Domain of Wishes and the Domain of Traits.