Léon Wurmser – författare

Work with patients with severe neuroses very often has to cope with the phenomenon that every progress in the analytic or therapeutic work is followed paradoxically by a clinical deterioration. There are a number of dynamic factors that converge to bring about this negative therapeutic reaction, including many-layered guilt and shame, aspects of envy and jealousy, attachment to negative affects, turning trauma from passive to active, conflicts within the superego, and the defensive use of omnipotence of responsibility.In Nothing Good Is Allowed to Stand, Wurmser, Jarass, and their colleagues consider these and other factors insightfully, such as the extent to which traumatization lives on in self-directed aggressions of the superego in the claim of omnipotence; the significant role of deep conflicts between opposite values and loyalties in bringing about the prohibition of anything "good" and thus of the negative therapeutic reaction in particular and masochism in general; and the extent to which envy, jealousy, and resentment can be encountered in the "inner object," the "inner judge" (i.e., the superego), and how they are directed against the self.

Work with patients with severe neuroses very often has to cope with the phenomenon that every progress in the analytic or therapeutic work is followed paradoxically by a clinical deterioration. There are a number of dynamic factors that converge to bring about this negative therapeutic reaction, including many-layered guilt and shame, aspects of envy and jealousy, attachment to negative affects, turning trauma from passive to active, conflicts within the superego, and the defensive use of omnipotence of responsibility.In Nothing Good Is Allowed to Stand, Wurmser, Jarass, and their colleagues consider these and other factors insightfully, such as the extent to which traumatization lives on in self-directed aggressions of the superego in the claim of omnipotence; the significant role of deep conflicts between opposite values and loyalties in bringing about the prohibition of anything "good" and thus of the negative therapeutic reaction in particular and masochism in general; and the extent to which envy, jealousy, and resentment can be encountered in the "inner object," the "inner judge" (i.e., the superego), and how they are directed against the self.

This book describes in detail how to effectively treat severely ill but not psychotic patients, by careful psychotherapeutic work on the defenses and the superego. Diverging widely from Kernberg's and Kohut's work with the same broad spectrum of patients, Léon Wurmser demonstrates his flexible and individualized method with clinical material taken directly from actual patient–therapist interaction. The core of the therapeutic work focuses on trauma; forms of defense; conflicts within the superego; and the related affects of guilt, shame, depression, and resentment. Appreciating the complex and individual nature of each case, the author uses the familiar concepts of masochism, aggression, narcissism, and repetition compulsion as descriptions, not explanations, of clinical observations. There are no shortcuts; a genuine understanding that results in real change for the patient requires an in-depth exploration of the material in a nonjudgmental atmosphere. Observing that categories, while necessary, tend to be slowly transformed into words of devaluation, Dr. Wurmser addresses the implicit, and often quite explicit, judgmental spirit directed toward severely ill patients, and cautions clinicians to avoid falling into the role of a judging authority. This is an eloquent accounting of a master therapist's successes and failures, valuable especially for offering effective and decisive interventions in treating traditionally untreatable patients.

Torment Me, But Don't Abandon Me: Psychoanalysis of the Severe Neuroses in a New Key offers analysts and psychodynamic therapists an innovative way of understanding the theoretical intersection of masochism, perversion, shame, guilt, narcissism substance abuse. This constellation of psychopathology frequently is seen in clinical practice and often proves to be a difficult personality organization to treat. While Dr. Wurmser relies on elements of classical analysis to construct his theoretical framework (including a theoretical and clinical analysis of super ego analysis), he incorporates contemporary relational and intersubjective perspectives understanding that the analyst's involvement of the "self" is critical for the successful treatment of the serious neuroses.

Torment Me, But Don't Abandon Me: Psychoanalysis of the Severe Neuroses in a New Key offers analysts and psychodynamic therapists an innovative way of understanding the theoretical intersection of masochism, perversion, shame, guilt, narcissism substance abuse. This constellation of psychopathology frequently is seen in clinical practice and often proves to be a difficult personality organization to treat. While Dr. Wurmser relies on elements of classical analysis to construct his theoretical framework (including a theoretical and clinical analysis of super ego analysis), he incorporates contemporary relational and intersubjective perspectives understanding that the analyst's involvement of the "self" is critical for the successful treatment of the serious neuroses.

Jealousy and envy permeate the practice of psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic work. New experience and new relevance of old but neglected ideas about these two feeling states and their origins warrant special attention, both as to theory and practice.Their great complexity and multilayered nature are highlighted by a number of contributions: the very early inception of the "triangular" jealousy situations; the prominence of womb envy and hatred against femininity rooted in the envy of female procreativity; the role of shame and the core of both affects; the massive effects of the embodiment of these feelings in the conscience (i.e., the envious and resentful attacks by the "inner judge" against the self); the attempt to construct a cultic system of sacrifices the would countermand womb envy by an all-male cast of killing, rebirth, redemption, and blissful nourishment; and finally, the projection of envy, jealousy, and their context of shame and self-condemnation in the form of the Evil Eye.Taken together, the contributions to the stunning and insightful volume form a broad spectrum of new insights into the dynamics of two central emotions of rivalry and their clinical and cultural relevance and application.

Jealousy and envy permeate the practice of psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic work. New experience and new relevance of old but neglected ideas about these two feeling states and their origins warrant special attention, both as to theory and practice.Their great complexity and multilayered nature are highlighted by a number of contributions: the very early inception of the "triangular" jealousy situations; the prominence of womb envy and hatred against femininity rooted in the envy of female procreativity; the role of shame and the core of both affects; the massive effects of the embodiment of these feelings in the conscience (i.e., the envious and resentful attacks by the "inner judge" against the self); the attempt to construct a cultic system of sacrifices the would countermand womb envy by an all-male cast of killing, rebirth, redemption, and blissful nourishment; and finally, the projection of envy, jealousy, and their context of shame and self-condemnation in the form of the Evil Eye.Taken together, the contributions to the stunning and insightful volume form a broad spectrum of new insights into the dynamics of two central emotions of rivalry and their clinical and cultural relevance and application.

Grief and its Transcendence: Memory, Identity, Creativity is a landmark contribution that provides fresh insights into the experience and process of mourning. It includes fourteen original essays by pre-eminent psychoanalysts, historians, classicists, theologians, architects, art-historians and artists, that take on the subject of normal, rather than pathological mourning. In particular, it considers the diversity of the mourning process; the bereavement of ordinary vs. extraordinary loss; the contribution of mourning to personal and creative growth; and individual, social, and cultural means of transcending grief.The book is divided into three parts, each including two to four essays followed by one or two critical discussions. Co-editor Adele Tutter’s Prologue outlines the salient themes and tensions that emerge from the volume. Part I juxtaposes the consideration of grief in antiquity with an examination of the contemporary use of memorials to facilitate communal remembrance. Part II offers intimate first-person accounts of mourning from four renowned psychoanalysts that challenge long-held psychoanalytic formulations of mourning. Part III contains deeply personal essays that explore the use of sculpture, photography, and music to withstand, mourn, and transcend loss on individual, cultural and political levels. Drawing on the humanistic wisdom that underlies psychoanalytic thought, co-editor Léon Wurmser’s Epilogue closes the volume.Grief and its Transcendence will be a must for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and scholars within other disciplines who are interested in the topics of grief, bereavement and creativity.

Grief and its Transcendence: Memory, Identity, Creativity is a landmark contribution that provides fresh insights into the experience and process of mourning. It includes fourteen original essays by pre-eminent psychoanalysts, historians, classicists, theologians, architects, art-historians and artists, that take on the subject of normal, rather than pathological mourning. In particular, it considers the diversity of the mourning process; the bereavement of ordinary vs. extraordinary loss; the contribution of mourning to personal and creative growth; and individual, social, and cultural means of transcending grief.The book is divided into three parts, each including two to four essays followed by one or two critical discussions. Co-editor Adele Tutter’s Prologue outlines the salient themes and tensions that emerge from the volume. Part I juxtaposes the consideration of grief in antiquity with an examination of the contemporary use of memorials to facilitate communal remembrance. Part II offers intimate first-person accounts of mourning from four renowned psychoanalysts that challenge long-held psychoanalytic formulations of mourning. Part III contains deeply personal essays that explore the use of sculpture, photography, and music to withstand, mourn, and transcend loss on individual, cultural and political levels. Drawing on the humanistic wisdom that underlies psychoanalytic thought, co-editor Léon Wurmser’s Epilogue closes the volume.Grief and its Transcendence will be a must for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and scholars within other disciplines who are interested in the topics of grief, bereavement and creativity.

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Das Rätsel des Masochismus ist ein mehrschichtiges Rätsel. Da ist das oberflächliche und relativ leicht zu beantwortende Rätsel, warum jemand Befriedigung und sogar sexuelle Lust aus Schmerz und Leid, aus Erniedrigung und Scham ziehen kann und deshalb sogar direkt solches Leiden sucht. Schon schwieriger zu beantworten ist das Rätsel: Wie kann der Schmerzsüchtige sich selbst achten? Dieses Buch richtet sich vornehmlich an Therapeuten und zeigt Wege auf, wie man einem derart Schmerzsüchtigen helfen kann. Durch die therapeutische Erfahrung wie auch die umfassende Bildung von Leon Wurmser ist dieses Buch nicht nur für therapeutisch mit dem Problem befaßte Leser eine Bereicherung.

Bei der psychoanalytischen Behandlung schwerer, aber nicht psychotischer Psychopathologie f}hrt die ebenso konsequente wie einf}hlsame Analyse der inneren Konflikte - mit besonderer Beachtung der ]ber-Ich-]bertragung - zu wesentlich anderen Ergebnissen, als es nach dem heute verbreiteten Verst{ndnis solcher Krankheitsbilder, die man gemeinhin der "Borderlinepathologie" zurechnet, zu erwarten w{re. Dynamisch stellt sich der Wiederholungszwang vorwiegend als eine Flucht vor dem Gewissen dar, die mi~lingt. Wiederholte selbstzerst|rerische Handlungen und die damit verbundenen Identit{tsspaltungen bilden eine Abfolge von L|sungen bestimmterLoyalit{tskonflikte sowie des Schuld-Scham-Dilemmas. Der Autor beschreibt diese Problematik anhand gr}ndlich reflektierter Gespr{che mit den Patienten, wobei deutlich wird, wie absolute (aber widerstreitende) ]ber-Ich-Forderungen, absolute (aber im Widerspruch stehende) Affekte und W}nsche, globale Identifizierung, Verleugnung und massive Introjektion der Traumata zusammenwirken und zu den Ph{nomenen der Identit{tsspaltungf}hren.Die "Spaltung" erscheint als das Ergebnis, nicht als Ursprung der Abwehr; der Begriff hat somit eine beschreibende, keine erkl{rende Funktion.Die meisten schweren Neurosen bed}rfen einer Kombination verschiedener therapeutischer Zug{nge.

Das Werk geht von der ]berlegung aus, da~ die Philosopie nicht so sehr mit dem Staunen und Sichwundern anf{ngt, sondern eher aus dem Leiden und damit aus der Unvers|nlichkeit mit der Ungerechtigkeit erwachsen ist. Aufgrundvon Beobachtungen, nach denen sich das Selbst- und Welterleben in mannigfacher Weise als "gespalten", als zerbrochen oder doppelt darstellt, konzentriert sich das Buch auf drei haupts{chliche klinisch-literarische Erscheinungsformen: das gegen die Ungerechtigkeit des Daseins gerichtete Aufbegehren und Zerbrechen im Tragischen, das durch Ressentiment begr}ndete absolut B|se und die eine doppelte Wirklichkeit vorspiegelnde Verleugnung. Zur Erkl{rung dieser Ph{nomene dientdas Konzept des inneren Konflikts. Die Erkl{rung durch Konflikt und Komplementarit{t ist }berhaupt die einzige Kausalantwort, die aus der psychoanalytischen Erfahrung mit Sicherheit abgeleitet werden kann. Sie macht das psychoanalytische Menschenverst{ndnis aus.Will die Psychoanalyse ihren Anforderungen als Wissenschaft vom inneren Konflikt treu bleiben, mu~ sie als ein gesonderter Bereich der symbolischen Erfassung und Gestaltung der Wirklichkeit aufgefa~t werden, der weitgehend unabh{ngig ist, ein eigenes Wesen und eine besondere Gesetzlichkeit aufweistund weder den Natur- noch den Geisteswissenschaften zuzurechnen ist.

Leon Wurmser, dem 1997 für seine Arbeiten zum Affekt der Scham der Preis der Dr. Margit Egner-Stiftung verliehen wird, legt nunmehr die 3. Auflage der "Maske der Scham" vor. Die Themen reichen von der Phänomenologie, Struktur und Genese der Scham, ihre - oft vernachlässigte - Abgrenzung gegen die Schuld, über Schamformen, -abwehr und Entfremdung bis zu den resultierenden Schlußfolgerungen für die psychoanalytische und -therapeutische Technik. Dabei wird dem Leser auch die gesellschaftliche Dimension dieses Affekts deutlich: Theoretisch fundiert und stilistisch einfühlsam entwickelt der Autor die Bedeutung der Scham in den Beziehungen des Alltagslebens, in der Pathologie und in der Politik wie auch ihre Widerspiegelung in der schöngeistigen Literatur. Ein informatives und doch spannend zu lesendes Buch.

Das Rätsel des Masochismus - es ist ein mehrschichtiges Rätsel. Da ist das oberflächliche und relativ leicht beantwortbare Rätsel, warum jemand Befriedigung und sogar sexuelle Lust aus Schmerz und Leid, aus Erniedrigung und Scham ziehen kann und deshalb sogar direkt solches Leiden aufsucht, es auf sich zieht und herausfordert. Schon schwieriger zu beantworten ist die zweite Schicht des Rätsels - wie kann der Schmerzsüchtige sich selbst achten? Des Rätsels Kern richtet sich vornehmlich an Therapeuten: Wie kann man einem derart Schmerzsüchtigen helfen? Psychoanalytiker und Therapeuten wissen, wie überaus schwer die masochistische Charakter-, Symptom- und Sexualproblematik anzugehen und zu verändern ist, wieviel Geduld die Behandlung von Patient und Therapeut verlangt, wie regelmäßig jeder Erfolg zu einem Rückschlag führt. Léon Wurmser zeigt, daß des Rätsels Lösung in einem besseren Verständnis der dem masochistischen Verhalten zugrunde liegenden Dynamik liegt. Anhand ausführlicher Falldarstellungen - häufig den gesamten therapeutischen Prozeß umfassend - läßt er den Leser an seinen therapeutischen Erfahrungen teilhaben und zeigt, daß und wie verändernd eingegriffen werden kann. Léon Wurmser hat mit dem Rätsel des Masochismus wieder ein Buch vorgelegt, das von therapeutischer Erfahrung und umfassender Bildung zeugt und daher nicht nur für den therapeutisch mit dem Problem befaßten Leser eine Bereicherung sein wird.