The Enigma of Desire

Clinically astute and theoretically provocative, The Enigma of Desire recaptures the realm of sexuality for relational psychoanalysis. Atlas offers an illuminating, original construction of sexuality as located in the tension between enigmatic and pragmatic dimensions, deftly putting into play the binaries of known and unknown, seen and unseen, internal and external as well as oedipal and pre-oedipal experiences of the body. Charged with the passionate intensity of early maternal experience that has often been desexualized, Atlass complex and creative narratives bring theoretical constructs to larger life while offering clinicians a model of sensitive, nuanced work. - Jessica Benjamin, Supervisor and Faculty, New York University Postdoctoral Psychology Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy; author of Shadow of the Other. In The Enigma of Desire Galit Atlas challenges us to consider not only the "pragmatic" mother and infant of infant research, but also the enigmatic mother and infant, hidden, mysterious, unknown. " some things can be heard only from inside not through the actual observed interaction but rather in the enigmatic-unseen zones of the internal mind" (p. 17). The co-creation and co-regulation of desire is a topic that deserves more attention in psychoanalysis. Galit Atlas offers us an outstanding statement. - Beatrice Beebe, Ph.D. Clinical Professor of Psychology (in Psychiatry), College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University

Dr. Galit Atlas is a psychoanalyst and clinical supervisor in private practice in Manhattan. She is on the faculty of theNew York University Postdoctoral Program for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis and NIP and lectures throughout the United States and Internationally. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on gender and sexuality.Dr. Atlas is on the board of directors of the Division of Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association.

Introduction: Desires, Mothers, and Others Part I. Enigmatic and Pragmatic 2. Ella: The Enigma of Desire 3. Ben and Leo: Excited Idiot 4. Danny: Ghosts and the Maternal Skin Part II. Enigmatic Knowing 5. Celine: Breaks in Unity 6. Tomaz and Ron: The Enigmatic Language 7. Karen: Words and Silences 8. Galit: Sex, Lies, and Psychoanalysis Part III. The Unknown 9. Sex and the Kitchen: The Mystery of Female Desire 10. Jo, Simone, and Those We Dont Yet Know: Three Pregnancies and Psychoanalysis 11. Sophie, Sarah: Dreams, Enactments, and the Enigmatic Future Epilogue: Death References