But Facts Exist

Thomas Freeman MD FRCP, also author of Development and Psychopathology: Studies in Psychoanalytic Psychiatry and Chronic Schizophrenia.

'This book provides an account of psychoanalysis at its best: psychoanalysis as a basic science of the mind, grounded in observable clinical phenomena which can be reliably verified by anyone who cares to look. It succinctly charts the checkered course of international psychoanalysis from the 1890s to the present, with a lucid critical treatment of the major theoretical developments, richly illustrated by clinical vignettes drawn from the author's unrivalled experiences in general psychiatry. It is a book which is both saddening and inspiring - saddening because it underscores how far we have strayed from our roots in the great tradition of classical medicine; and inspiring because it points the way for the future, through its vision of psychoanalytic theory as a set of heuristic explanatory concepts derived from disciplined observation of the subjective life of individual human beings in a clinical setting.'- Mark Solms'Thomas Freeman belongs to the European scientists who tried as pioneers to integrate psychoanalytical thinking into the psychiatric world. This book reflects not only an excellent history of psychoanalytical theory but also personal experiences and observations with patients. A remarkable book.' - Christian Muller, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry'From the legacy of Sigmund Freud's seminal discoveries how the human mind works, Thomas Freeman has advanced our need to know more from his extensive and astute clinical observations of adults with psychoses. Based on a selective review of the literature, with special attention to his elaboration of his classic, A psychoanalytic Study of Psychoses(1973), Freeman demonstrates that there is a way forward in studying the basic laws of how the inner mind works psychotic adults. This superb book is constructed from systemic observations by the author in his life-long commitment to the use of psychoanalytic theory in treating psychotic patients. In the tradition of Freud, he has remained au courant and open-minded to neuropsychological and psycho-pharmalogical contributions to the understanding and treatment of psychoses in adults.'- Albert J. Solnit'Dr Freeman's uncompromising and courageous investigation will upset, or be dismissed by, many who are unwilling to re-think their position, but inspire those who are. It is the result of a professional lifetime of investigation and reflection by a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist whose experience of the whole field of mental disorder - including the psychoses and organic mental states - is unsurpassed. The exposition is fearless in its disregard for psychoanalytic fashion or politics in seeking to re-establish those fundamentals threatened with loss.'- Clifford Yorke

• Introduction 1 The clinical foundations of Freud's pleasure (unpleasure) principle 2 The theory of repression 3 Freud's theory of mind reformulated: Beyond the Pleasure Principle 4 The new schema of the mental apparatus and its antecedents 5 A short detour around Freud's theories of anxiety 6 The reinterpretation of clinical facts (descriptive data) 7 Psychoses and psychoanalytic theories of development 8 Theories of narcissistic object relations 9 On the formal aspects of psychotic phenomena 10 Theory and technique in psychoanalysis 11 Is there a way forward?