Ghosts in the Human Psyche

Vamık Volkan, MD, DFLAPA, received his medical education at the School of Medicine, University of Ankara, Turkey. He is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville and an emeritus training and supervising analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, Washington, DC. In 1987, Dr Volkan established the Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction (CSMHI) at the School of Medicine, University of Virginia. CSMHI applied a growing theoretical and field-proven base of knowledge to issues such as ethnic tension, racism, large-group identity, terrorism, societal trauma, immigration, mourning, transgenerational transmissions, leader–follower relationships, and other aspects of national and international conflict. A year after his 2002 retirement, Dr Volkan became the Senior Erik Erikson Scholar at the Erikson Institute of the Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, Massachusetts and he spent three to six months there each year for ten years.In 2006, he was Fulbright/Sigmund Freud-Privatstiftung Visiting Scholar of Psychoanalysis in Vienna, Austria. Dr Volkan holds honorary doctorate degrees from Kuopio University (now called the University of Eastern Finland), Finland; from Ankara University, Turkey; and the Eastern European Psychoanalytic Institute, Russia. He was a former president of the Turkish-American Neuropsychiatric Society, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Virginia Psychoanalytic Society, and the American College of Psychoanalysts. Among many the awards he received are the Nevitt Sanford Award, Elise M. Hayman Award, L. Bryce Boyer Award, Margaret Mahler Literature Prize, Hans H. Strupp Award, the American College of Psychoanalysts’ Distinguished Officer Award for 2014, and the Mary S. Sigourney Award for 2015. He received the Sigmund Freud Award given by the city of Vienna, Austria in collaboration with the World Council of Psychotherapy. He also was honoured on several occasions by being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize with letters of support from twenty-seven countries. Dr Volkan is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than fifty psychoanalytic and psychopolitical books, including Enemies on the Couch: A Psychopolitical Journey through War and Peace. Currently Dr Volkan is the president emeritus of the International Dialogue Initiative (IDI), which he established in 2007. He continues to lecture nationally and internationally.

In this new psychoanalytic era, where the impact of historical events on the development of the personality is now recognised, Dr Vamık Volkan describes his observations on the impact of cultural elements, political movements and their mental images on the psyche of individuals. He does this through a candid and detailed description of a case study from the perspective of an analytic supervisor. The analytic journey described in the book is profound, clear, and authentic. Not only trainees but experienced psychodynamic clinicians as well will find this book a pleasurable learning experience

• About the AuthorAbout this BookCHAPTER ONEHistory, Culture, Politics, and PsychoanalysisCHAPTER TWOTeaching and Supervising Psychoanalytic Cases in a Foreign CountryCHAPTER THREEA Man Who Was Afraid of Ghosts and GravesCHAPTER FOURThe Beginning of Analysis and Therapeutic NeutralityCHAPTER FIVELarge-Group IdentityCHAPTER SIXSecretsCHAPTER SEVENCanyon of HellCHAPTER EIGHTThe Supervisor’s Thoughts and FeelingsCHAPTER NINEHaving an “Analytic Object”CHAPTER TEN“Second Look” ExperiencesCHAPTER ELEVENBehavioral ChangesCHAPTER TWELVETherapeutic Regression, Somatic Recollections,and Disappearance of PhobiasCHAPTER THIRTEENGrowing Up in a Different WayCHAPTER FOURTEENConducting Analysis during Political TurmoilCHAPTER FIFTEENAn Unexpected EndingLast CommentsReferencesIndex