Omnipotent State of Mind

Jean Arundale, PhD, is a training and supervising analyst of the British Psychoanalytic Association and author of the book Identity, Narcissism, and the Other (Routledge). She is also co-editor of Transference and Countertransference and Interpretive Voices (both Routledge).

'This scholarly book brings much needed clarification as well as new ideas on the notion of omnipotence. Its richness lies in the profound exploration of this concept by a broad spectrum of eminent psychoanalysts. The book covers many different aspects of omnipotence as it can be encountered both in normal development and in pathological states of mind such as in manic states. The editor’s thoughtful selection and careful editing results in a very valuable contemporary contribution to the psychoanalytic literature.'Professor Catalina Bronstein, MD, Visiting Professor, Psychoanalysis Unit, University College London and Fellow and Training Psychoanalyst, British Psychoanalytical Society'The ubiquitous invocation of the concept of omnipotence has come to obscure the increasing imprecision and casualness with which it is used. Assembling some of the finest psychoanalytic clinicians and theorists writing today, Jean Arundale’s indispensable collection brings to light the fascinating variegation and complexity of this key psychic phenomenon.'Professor Josh Cohen, Psychoanalyst (BPAS) and Professor of Literary Theory, Goldsmiths University of London'This volume places omnipotence in its long overdue rightful place as a key concept in psychoanalytic metapsychology and clinical practice. Omnipotence of thought and feeling are ineradicable features of the human condition and emotional life. In addition to their numerous pathological guises, they appear as normal components of child development, achievement in the real world, and the development of self-esteem.'Howard B. Levine, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Routledge Wilfred R. Bion Studies Series

• Introduction In the beginning . . . 1. The survival function of primitive omnipotence 2. The thumb-in-the-mouth phantasy and the capacity to love 3. Peter Pan, the omnipotent child In the adolescent . . . 4. Omnipotence in adolescence 5. Customising the body: From omnipotence to autonomy In the adult . . . 6. On three forms of thinking: Magical thinking, dream thinking, and transformative thinking 7. The appeal of omnipotence 8. A neuropsychoanalytic note on omnipotence 9. The relinquishment of omnipotence in a severely traumatised patient 10. Possessed by a cruel God: The damaging effect of an omnipotent internal object 11. From patients to presidents: The Grand Illusion Why is omnipotence so difficult to give up? 12. Overcoming obstacles in analysis: Is it possible to relinquish omnipotence and accept receptive femininity? 13. Omnipotence and the difficulty in relinquishing it The desire for power in culture and society . . . 14. Omnipotence and the paradoxes of insight: A Darwinian look 15. Lear, Kane and the workings of omnipotence 16. Applying my theory of psychosis to the Nazi phenomenon 17. The destructiveness of omnipotence and ‘perverted containing’: Psychoanalytic reflections on the dynamic between Donald Trump and his supporters 18. Notes toward a model for omnipotence