Psychosis and Extreme States

​Bret Fimiani is faculty, board member and psychoanalyst of the San Francisco Bay Area Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis, USA, and a clinical psychologist. He works with people experiencing psychosis and extreme states in his private practice in Oakland, CA and at the Haight-Ashbury Integrated Care Center in San Francisco. His research interests include adapting the Lacanian analytic frame for the treatment of psychosis and extreme states.

“Psychosis and Extreme States, a worthy addition to the Palgrave Lacan Series. … Fimiani’s book draws heavily on their practical efforts.” (Rolf Flor, Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, Vol. 28 (4), 2023)“Bret Fimiani’s (2021) Psychosis and Extreme States: An Ethic for Treatment, the product of decades of research and clinical experience in the psychoanalytic treatment of the psychoses, is published at a particularly kairotic[1] moment, addressing itself more broadly to the contemporary crisis of psychoanalysis. … Fimiani has produced a rich, heterodox account of psychosis and a psychoanalytic approach to working with psychotic subjects. … The structure and style of Fimiani’s book deserve closer attention.” (Matthew Oyer, European Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 10 (1), June, 2023)

• 1. Introduction: The Psychotic as Guide.- 2. The Body of the Psychotic.- 3. The Impasse of Transference in Psychosis.- 4. Dream-Work Versus Delusion.- 5. The Utility of Gilles Deleuze’s Critique of Psychoanalysis.- 6. Toward a New Ethic.- 7. The Fear of Psychosis: Part I.- 8. The Fear of Psychosis: Part II.- 9. Bridging the Gap Between Psychotic and Non-Psychotic Experience.