Living on the Border

David Bell is a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Tavistock Clinic in London, where he directs the Fitzjohn's Unit, a specialist service for serious/complex psychological disorders. He is visiting Professorial Fellow, Birkbeck College, London and past President of the British Psychoanalytical Society. Throughout his career he has been deeply involved in the relation between psychoanalysis and literature, philosophy and politics, and has made numerous contributions in these areas. He is one of the UK's leading psychiatric experts in asylum/human rights. He is contributing editor of 'Reason and Passion' and 'Psychoanalysis and Culture: A Kleinian Perspective'. Aleksandra Novakovic is a couple psychoanalytic psychotherapist and a psychoanalyst. She was Joint Head of the Inpatient & Community Psychology Service and a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the Adult Mental Health Psychology Service. She worked at the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships and taught and supervised on the Couple Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training. She teaches for the British Psychoanalytic Association and supervises on the Reflective Practice in Organizations Course, Institute of Group Analysis. She co-edited (with David Bell), 'Living on the Border: Psychotic Processes in the Individual, the Couple and the Group' (2013).

'A comprehensive exploration of some of the most puzzling and intransigent mental states that clinicians encounter ; "Ground breaking" is often an over-used and cliched term, ...but in the case of this book, it constitutes a fair description, one most unusual in the professional literature hitherto.'- Margot Waddell, author of Inside Lives: Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality'A wide ranging collection showing the immense value of a psychoanalytic approach to severe psychological disorder- Never could a need for a book like this be more urgent than at our current juncture.'- John Steiner, author of Psychic Retreats: Pathological Organisations in Psychotic, Neurotic and Borderline Patients and Seeing and Being Seen: Emerging from a Psychic RetreatContentsThe psychoanalytic approach to the treatment of psychotic patients - Hanna Segal Reflections on "meaning" and "meaninglessness" in post-Kleinian thought - Margot Waddell Rigidity and stability in a psychotic patient: some thoughts about obstacles to facing reality in psychotherapy - Margaret Rustin Forms of "folie-a-deux" in the couple relationship - James FisherPsychotic and depressive processes in couple functioning - Francis GrierThe Frozen Man: further reflections on glacial times - Salomon ResnikPsychotic processes: a group perspective - Aleksandra NovakovicPsychotic processes in large groups - Caroline Garland A community meeting on an acute psychiatric ward: observation and commentaries:Ward observation: Commentary I - David Kennard; Commentary II - Julian Lousada; Commentary III - Mary Morgan; Commentary IV - Wilhelm Skogstad Asylum and society - Elizabeth Bott Spillius Schizophrenia, meaninglessness, and professional stress - R.D. Hinshelwood Brilliant stupidity: madness in organizational life - a perspective from organizational consultancy - Tim Dartington The dynamics of containment - David Bell

• 1 The psychoanalytic approach to the treatment of psychotic patients Hanna Segal 1 2 Reflections on "meaning" and "meaninglessness" in post-Kleinian thought Margot Waddell 11 3 Rigidity and stability in a psychotic patient: some thoughts about obstacles to facing reality in psychotherapy Margaret Rustin 28 4 Forms of "folie-à-deux" in the couple relationship James Fisher 45 5 Psychotic and depressive processes in couple functioning Francis Grier 71 6 The Frozen Man: further reflections on glacial times Salomon Resnik 89 7 Psychotic processes: a group perspective Aleksandra Novakovic 108 8 Psychotic processes in large groups Caroline Garland 132 9 A community meeting on an acute psychiatric ward: observation and commentaries 147 Commentary I David Kennard 152 Commentary II Julian Lousada 156 Commentary III Mary Morgan 162 Commentary IV Wilhelm Skogstad 167 10 Asylum and society Elizabeth Bott Spillius 171 11 Schizophrenia, meaninglessness, and professional stress R. D. Hinshelwood 194 12 Brilliant stupidity: madness in organizational life— a perspective from organizational consultancy Tim Dartington 208 13 The dynamics of containment David Bell 226