Franco De Masi – författare

In this book the author examines the series of connections that give rise to the intimate relationship between environment and individual in the construction of emotional suffering, emphasising both the undisputed pathogenic action of environmental stimuli and the active participation of whoever is obliged to suffer the negative situation. The author shows that the way in which one tries to escape suffering is what often seriously jeopardises growth. Working with Difficult Patients points out the intrinsic link between some forms of mental suffering and the distorted responses that the patient has received from his or her original environment. For this reason the author explores the concept of the emotional trauma in particular, since this trauma, which occurs in the primary relationship, often impels the child into relational withdrawal and towards constructing pathological structures that will accompany him or her for the rest of their life. The chapters are ordered according to a scale of increasing treatment difficulty, which is proportional to the potential pathogenicity of the underlying psychopathological structure.

Between 1978 and 1985 Dr Herbert Rosenfeld was one of a number of British analysts invited by a group of Societa di Psicoanalisi Italiani members to conduct a series of seminars and supervisions for the purpose of deepening and refining that group's clinical skills and theoretical understanding. This book is an illuminating record of that encounter, and a warm tribute to the significant influence of Rosenfeld's contribution. It is divided into two parts - 'Theoretical' and 'Clinical', and based on a selection of verbatim transcripts recorded at the time. These transcripts, with their dialogical form, succeed in capturing much of the specificity of oral exchange, and thus convey a strong impression of Rosenfeld the man as much as clinician or theoretician. Rosenfeld remained to the end a continuously creative analyst and these 'last thoughts' provide the reader with ample evidence of his undimmed gifts. His subtle intuitions, meticulously close attention to both patient's and analyst's interpretations, and fine appreciation of the intricacies of the analytic encounter, are abundantly present.

Why does someone resolve to take his own life in order to murder other people? What is the state of mind which allows him to commit such a monstrous act? This book explores the mental state that compels certain individuals to perform murderous, suicidal acts and emphasizes that, whereas a suicidal terrorist attack can be described as a crime against humanity, its protagonists cannot necessarily be classified as criminal or insane. There is no such a thing as a "typical" suicide terrorist - each attacker differs in age, sex, family status, culture, and even religion. Indeed, the common elements in suicide terrorism should perhaps be sought not so much in the individuals concerned as in the dynamics rooted in their group, family history or country. It may be extreme situations experienced by the group situations that are either objectively extreme or perceived as such that give rise to paradoxical behaviour at individual level. Psychoanalysis is well placed to consider this terrain.

This book examines the terminology used in the analysis of sadomasochism, surveys extensively, and in detail, the theories of other psychoanalysts, and explores the relationship between sadomasochism and depression; its relationship to psychosis, borderline states, and many other conditions.

This book postulates that the trigger of the psychotic condition is located in the basic processes which structure the first emotional relations. It presents some of the reasons why patients succumb to the attraction of a course doomed to result in the permanent derangement of their minds.

A Psychoanalytic Approach to Treating Psychosis shows how, by understanding the antecedents and dynamics of psychosis, a psychoanalytic approach can offer a long-term alternative to the only psychotropic therapy and an explanation of the infantile origin of the illness.This ground-breaking examination begins by clearly explaining complex terms and theories from the most significant thinkers in psychoanalysis. Split into three parts, it then explores the problems faced when following one specific technique for understanding the psychotic process. Practical as well as theoretical, Part 2 illustrates how to prepare an appropriate setting for the patient, including the importance of listening and the analyst’s approach, as well as highlighting key features of the condition, such as delusions, hallucinations, infantile withdrawal and psychotic dreams. Acknowledging that psychosis is a psychic transformation which the mind works as a sensorial organ, the author asserts that the seeds are sown in childhood through emotional trauma, leading to withdrawal into a fantasy world. Brimming with real-life vignettes throughout, Part 3 is dedicated to a unique and lengthy case study to illustrate the challenges of working with such patients. It also looks positively towards future research on psychosis informed by insights from neuroscience.Innovative and accessible, this book will be essential reading for anyone working in psychosis, including psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychologists and physicians.

A Psychoanalytic Approach to Treating Psychosis shows how, by understanding the antecedents and dynamics of psychosis, a psychoanalytic approach can offer a long-term alternative to the only psychotropic therapy and an explanation of the infantile origin of the illness.This ground-breaking examination begins by clearly explaining complex terms and theories from the most significant thinkers in psychoanalysis. Split into three parts, it then explores the problems faced when following one specific technique for understanding the psychotic process. Practical as well as theoretical, Part 2 illustrates how to prepare an appropriate setting for the patient, including the importance of listening and the analyst’s approach, as well as highlighting key features of the condition, such as delusions, hallucinations, infantile withdrawal and psychotic dreams. Acknowledging that psychosis is a psychic transformation which the mind works as a sensorial organ, the author asserts that the seeds are sown in childhood through emotional trauma, leading to withdrawal into a fantasy world. Brimming with real-life vignettes throughout, Part 3 is dedicated to a unique and lengthy case study to illustrate the challenges of working with such patients. It also looks positively towards future research on psychosis informed by insights from neuroscience.Innovative and accessible, this book will be essential reading for anyone working in psychosis, including psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychologists and physicians.

Psychosis: A Contemporary Introduction offers an in-depth exploration of psychosis from a psychoanalytic perspective, combining historical developments, clinical reflections, and the author’s extensive original research.Franco De Masi outlines the history of psychoanalytic approaches to the treatment and understanding of psychosis, focusing on symptoms such as delusion, hallucination, psychotic dreams, the collapse of symbolization, and sensory withdrawal. Addressing the challenges often encountered in clinical work, De Masi explores analytic tools that may support psychotic patients, particularly where traditional approaches grounded in the dynamic unconscious might have failed. He discusses the therapeutic setting, looking at pharmacological support as well as the temporal dimension and quality of interpretative work.Written in a clear and accessible style, this volume serves as an ideal introduction for those approaching psychosis for the first time, both clinically and theoretically, as well as for those seeking contemporary and innovative perspectives on the subject. It is a valuable resource for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and researchers.

Psychosis: A Contemporary Introduction offers an in-depth exploration of psychosis from a psychoanalytic perspective, combining historical developments, clinical reflections, and the author’s extensive original research.Franco De Masi outlines the history of psychoanalytic approaches to the treatment and understanding of psychosis, focusing on symptoms such as delusion, hallucination, psychotic dreams, the collapse of symbolization, and sensory withdrawal. Addressing the challenges often encountered in clinical work, De Masi explores analytic tools that may support psychotic patients, particularly where traditional approaches grounded in the dynamic unconscious might have failed. He discusses the therapeutic setting, looking at pharmacological support as well as the temporal dimension and quality of interpretative work.Written in a clear and accessible style, this volume serves as an ideal introduction for those approaching psychosis for the first time, both clinically and theoretically, as well as for those seeking contemporary and innovative perspectives on the subject. It is a valuable resource for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and researchers.

This comprehensive work systematically describes Wilfred Bion’s work on psychosis and critically develops his contribution in order to arrive at an appropriate and modern understanding of the disorder.The book provides deep insights into the psychoanalytic treatment of psychotic patients through comprehensive analysis of key concepts including the alpha function, the failure to dream, and psychic retreat. It bridges theoretical understanding with clinical application, examining how psychotic minds function as sensory organs rather than thinking apparatus, and offers practical guidance for therapeutic work with severely impacted patients. The text critically evaluates both the achievements and limitations of Kleinian approaches while presenting fresh perspectives on childhood withdrawal and delusional structure formation.Bion and Psychosis is essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and mental health professionals working with psychotic patients. It serves as an invaluable resource for trainees, postgraduate students and researchers in psychoanalysis, particularly those studying Kleinian theory, Bion's work or severe mental disorders.

This comprehensive work systematically describes Wilfred Bion’s work on psychosis and critically develops his contribution in order to arrive at an appropriate and modern understanding of the disorder.The book provides deep insights into the psychoanalytic treatment of psychotic patients through comprehensive analysis of key concepts including the alpha function, the failure to dream, and psychic retreat. It bridges theoretical understanding with clinical application, examining how psychotic minds function as sensory organs rather than thinking apparatus, and offers practical guidance for therapeutic work with severely impacted patients. The text critically evaluates both the achievements and limitations of Kleinian approaches while presenting fresh perspectives on childhood withdrawal and delusional structure formation.Bion and Psychosis is essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and mental health professionals working with psychotic patients. It serves as an invaluable resource for trainees, postgraduate students and researchers in psychoanalysis, particularly those studying Kleinian theory, Bion's work or severe mental disorders.

In this book the author examines the series of connections that give rise to the intimate relationship between environment and individual in the construction of emotional suffering, emphasising both the undisputed pathogenic action of environmental stimuli and the active participation of whoever is obliged to suffer the negative situation. Franco De Masi shows that the way in which one tries to escape suffering is what often seriously jeopardises growth.The aim of Working with Difficult Patients is to point out the intrinsic link between some forms of mental suffering and the distorted responses that the patient has received from his or her original environment. For this reason the author explores the concept of the emotional trauma in particular, since this trauma, which occurs in the primary relationship, often impels the child into relational withdrawal and towards constructing pathological structures that will accompany him or her for the rest of their life. The chapters are ordered according to a scale of increasing treatment difficulty, which is proportional to the potential pathogenicity of the underlying psychopathological structure. Consequently, the borderline state and the psychotic state are located at either end of an axis of progressive complexity and difficulty towards change.The author endeavours to set out a panorama of the main psychopathological entities as he has encountered them and indeed still encounters them in his clinical activity, presenting the material according to a criterion that highlights the differences between the individual case histories. A number of chapters in the second part of the book attempt to clarify the various psychic processes that underlie some frequently encountered psychopathologies.

This book describes the life of Karl Abraham, his work in Zurich and Berlin, and his scientific relationship with Freud. Abraham wrote important papers which form the base of clinical psychoanalysis and analytic technique: transference, countertransference, narcissism, envy and childhood trauma. In particular, the book takes into account the contribution Abraham made to understanding the problem of mourning and melancholia, not only through his works dedicated to this topic but also with his contribution within the continuous and scientific communication with Freud, as documented in the Freud-Abraham correspondence (Karnac, 2002). In the final chapter, 'What Abraham could not understand', the book describes how, when Abraham read the manuscript of Mourning and Melancholia, he did not fully understand some passages of Freud's text. He thought for a long time until he could envisage a solution to an unsolved problem - that of the way in which the patient succeeds in overcoming the mourning. This happens when the loved and lost object is reinstalled in his inner world, a very important concept in the Kleinian development.However, one thesis of the book is that some of Abraham's ideas cannot be fully integrated into Melanie Klein's theory, and differ from her conceptualization (for example, regardingthe importance of the death drive), although they continue to have a current and original validity. Abraham is also important for the establishment of the Berlin Polyclinic and the creation of psychoanalytic training, which is still adopted by many psychoanalytic societies.

From the beginning of psychoanalysis, there have been those considered suited to psychoanalytic therapy and those not. Those ‘suited’ could dream and associate as well as understand and accept the analyst’s symbolic interpretations. Those ‘unsuited’ were either unreceptive to treatment or were psychotic and it was feared that analysis could worsen an already fragile situation.Throughout his decades of clinical experience, Franco De Masi expanded his work to treat patients considered difficult to analyse. By doing so, he went beyond the territory of the dynamic unconscious into territory where psychic processes outside awareness reside. This inspiring book outlines his journey in two parts. Part I looks at certain aspects of traditional therapeutic work for ‘analysable’ patients. De Masi discusses the relationship between psychoanalytic theories and models; how the analytic perspective of childhood life has changed over the past few decades; the concept of psychic truth; the duration of therapy; analytic therapy in old age; and the concept of the superego. Part II looks beyond the dynamic unconscious and highlights the existence of mental states inaccessible to traditional psychoanalytic methods. Here, De Masi investigates the psychotic mind and unknown spaces.Building on the revolutionary roots of psychoanalysis, De Masi broadens psychoanalytic practice to include psychic suffering hitherto considered unreachable. Case studies throughout the book illustrate the psychoanalytic theory, making it the ideal read for practising clinicians looking to expand their practice and academics interested in the efficacy of psychoanalysis.

Man's perception of the finite nature of life is always present, resulting in anxieties of varying intensity, depending on the person's character and on the phases of life he is going through. De Masi is aware of the philosophical, sociological, religious or mystical approaches to the problem of death, however he chooses to focus on, and remain within, the theoretical frame of reference of psychoanalysis. He explores how different psychoanalytic theories have addressed the issue of death, its presence or absence in the unconscious, as well as the implications of the theories of the death instinct on a more strictly clinical and technical level. Moreover De Masi is interested in thinking about the psychological resources available to man, to make death thinkable, when its inevitable occurrence needs to be faced. He is concerned with the transformation of the thought of death, from an unthinkable catastrophic event, to a natural conclusion of one's existence. As a psychoanalyst, he explores the quality of the anxiety accompanying the idea of the natural occurrence of death, which, however, is a perturbing presence in the mind of the average man of our Western civilization.We might fear, sense and anticipate the death of our loved ones, and we know that when it occurs we will need to face the emptiness that will result. Yet, the emptiness we will leave proves to be unthinkable. What do we mean then by "fear of death", what is death's status in our mind, what is it that torments us? Most significantly, how can we conceptualise our fear of death from a psychoanalytic perspective?

Between 1978 and 1985 Dr Herbert Rosenfeld was one of a number of British analysts invited by a group of Societa di Psicoanalisi Italiani members to conduct a series of seminars and supervisions for the purpose of deepening and refining that group's clinical skills and theoretical understanding. This book is an illuminating record of that encounter, and a warm tribute to the significant influence of Rosenfeld's contribution.It is divided into two parts - 'Theoretical' and 'Clinical', and based on a selection of verbatim transcripts recorded at the time. These transcripts, with their dialogical form, succeed in capturing much of the specificity of oral exchange, and thus convey a strong impression of Rosenfeld the man as much as clinician or theoretician.Rosenfeld remained to the end a continuously creative analyst and these 'last thoughts' provide the reader with ample evidence of his undimmed gifts. His subtle intuitions, meticulously close attention to both patient's and analyst's interpretations, and fine appreciation of the intricacies of the analytic encounter, are abundantly present.

'Franco De Masi is well known for his psychoanalytic work with patients suffering psychotic illnesses. In this book, he addresses the human vulnerability to psychosis, but the modest title of his book belies the depth of its investigations and conclusions. De Masi invites the reader into a thoughtful, systematic exploration of many aspects of the complex problems associated with psychotic illnesses: its ontogenesis and the emotional crises that lead to the dominance of psychotic thinking, the function of psychosis with regard to reality, its eruption or progression (depending upon the type of psychosis involved) and, crucially, the difficult and painstaking task of treatment. This latter theme is explored in considerable detail and is perhaps the most telling message of this book. Example after example of de Masi's engagement with patients illuminates his central objective - the gradual disinvestment by the patient of psychic energy allocated to ostensibly protective, but ultimately self-destructive, psychotic constructions and a re-investment in neurotic or more normal psychic reality - a world the patient has had to largely forsake under the sway of delusion... This book is large in scope and substantial in content. It provides the clinician with important perspectives on the origins and development of delusions in psychosis and offers a new perspective regarding the radical differences between delusional and normal or neurotic thought, and how these differences come about. It moves our thinking forward in an area that has too often been neglected, and for this we need to be grateful.'- Paul Williams, from the Introduction

Why does someone resolve to take his own life in order to murder other people? What is the state of mind which allows him to commit such a monstrous act?This book explores the mental state that compels certain individuals to perform murderous, suicidal acts and emphasizes that, whereas a suicidal terrorist attack can be described as a crime against humanity, its protagonists cannot necessarily be classified as criminal or insane. There is no such a thing as a "typical" suicide terrorist - each attacker differs in age, sex, family status, culture, and even religion. Indeed, the common elements in suicide terrorism should perhaps be sought not so much in the individuals concerned as in the dynamics rooted in their group, family history or country. It may be extreme situations experienced by the group situations that are either objectively extreme or perceived as such that give rise to paradoxical behaviour at individual level. Psychoanalysis is well placed to consider this terrain. Freud, after all, soon disabused his reader of the belief that the less palatable aspects of psychic life were the exclusive preserve of some aberrant sub-category of people.

In this book Franco de Masi examines the terminology used in the analysis of sadomasochism and surveys in detail the theories of other psychoanalysts. He explores the relationship between sadomasochism and other conditions, such as depression, psychosis and borderline states, and discusses the nature of evil in the broadest way possible.

Inspired by many successful years of teaching to analysts in training, Franco De Masi has selected the most significant lessons and added a few new ones to provide an enriching discussion of psychopathology and psychoanalytic clinical work. Lessons in Psychoanalysis begins with a general discussion of the scientific status of psychoanalysis, its main theories and models, and the way in which the unconscious registers emotional reality. These are followed by detailed chapters on key topics which relate more closely to clinical work. De Masi begins with the problem of diagnosis in psychoanalysis and the importance of a patient’s clinical history. He then turns his attention to transference and the analytic relationship, which he views as central to clinical work, followed by chapters on the analytic impasse and the use of countertransference. He then deals with other vital themes: regression, anxiety, phobia and panic, trauma, depersonalisation in the various syndromes, melancholic and non-melancholic depression, narcissism, and psychic withdrawal. He concludes with some final considerations of analytic therapy.De Masi makes clear that analytic concepts are not linear but formed over time from numerous contributions. To demonstrate this, he provides a description of how ideas evolved to form a concept. Following the trajectory enables a fuller understanding and demonstrates the flexibility of analytic concepts to incorporate new contributions without losing meaning. De Masi also includes data from neuroscientific research on certain phenomena to broaden the discussion and demonstrate what is happening in other related fields. His work shows that psychoanalysis has the capacity to be a unitary body which allows various models and theories to coexist even where disagreement may arise.This book is essential reading for trainee psychoanalysts and students, and highly recommended for qualified professionals who continue to question analytic practice and theory.