Unconscious and the Family

Anna Maria Nicolò, MD, child neuropsychiatrist, Training Analyst and Full Member of the Società Psicoanalitica Italiana (SPI) and International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA), expert in child and adolescent psychoanalysis. Past President of the SPI. President of the International Association of Couple and Family Psychoanalysis (IACFP). Chair of the IPA Publications Committee. She is a member of the Forum for Adolescence of the European Psychoanalytical Federation (FEP) Committee, of which she was Chair. Director of the journal Interazioni.

"This book is of immense value to contemporary psychoanalysis. In one volume Anna Nicolò provides both an essential guide for those working therapeutically in the complex field of couples and families, and a compelling read for anyone interested in the ongoing development of psychoanalysis. With exceptional intellect and understanding from her many years of clinical work, she demonstrates a truly impressive knowledge of the field of psychoanalysis as a whole. While maintaining her psychoanalytic foundation, she produces undeniable evidence of how psychoanalysis with couples and families challenges our understanding of the nature of the individual unconscious itself – this is a real gift."Mary Morgan, Fellow, British Psychoanalytic Society, Senior Fellow, Tavistock Relationships, UK"The Unconscious and the Family by Anna Maria Nicolò is a compelling and timely contribution to contemporary psychoanalysis. With remarkable clarity and depth, Nicolò invites the reader into the complex world of family and couple dynamics, illuminating unconscious links, transgenerational transmission, and the evolving functions of parenthood. The book moves seamlessly between theory and clinical practice, offering insights that resonate with the challenges of our time. It is both intellectually rigorous and clinically inspiring, encouraging us to rethink the nature of psychic life as inherently relational. An essential and engaging work for anyone interested in the psychoanalysis of families and couples."Elizabeth Palacios, Chair, Couple and Family IPA Committee (COFAP), IPA Training Analyst, GAEP (New Spanish Group) and APM, Spain"Anna Nicolò's groundbreaking book knits fundamental contributions to psychoanalytic and developmental theory with deep clinical experience with couples and families. Nicolo’s eloquent synthesis opens new horizons on how unconscious factors organize families in health and illness. An instant classic, this book will be critical to the growth of the seasoned clinician, the novice, and to all who plomb the enigmas of couple and families."David E. Scharff, Former chair, IPA Committee on Couple and Family Psychoanalysis, USA

• Part 1: Understanding the Family 1. The Unconscious and the Family 2. Subjectual Links, Pathologies and Transpersonal Defences 3. The Family and Its Functioning 4. The Primal Scene in the Family 5. The Fraternal Complex and the Disturbing Stranger 6. The Couple from a Psychoanalytic Perspective 7. The Desire for a Child and Parenthood 8. Becoming a Father Today 9. The Transmission of Trauma in the Family 10. The Paranoid Elaboration of Mourning in the Family 11. Violent Couple Links 12. The Family with the Psychotic Patient as an Organisation of Traumatic Links 13. Denial, Negation and Interpersonal Links 14. Dreams and the Unconscious in the Couple and the Family Part 2: Psychoanalytic Technique With Couples And Families 15. Diagnostic Assessment with the Family 16. Intrusions in the Setting 17. Transference with the Couple and the Family 18. Countertransference and Dreams in the Family 19. Interpretation in the Psychoanalysis of Couples and Families 20. Metaphors and the Process of Metaphorisation 21. Narration: Individual and Family Biographies as Therapeutic Tools