International Psychoanalytical Association Current Challenges in Psychoanalysis – serie

Psychoanalysis and Severe Disorders in Young Children presents case material and resources for professionals working with young children in the clinic and in the community.Presented in two main parts, the book explores Nahir Bonifacino’s work with children and their parents. The first part presents clinical case material from her work with several young children with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, illustrating an adaptation of child psychoanalytic technique that encourages patient communication. Part 2 considers outreach in the community, with resources for parents and professionals in frontline care roles that focus on a preventative approach to child mental health. The book closes with an appendix which translates psychoanalytic resources for use in early childhood education and care institutions.Psychoanalysis and Severe Disorders in Young Children will be of great interest to child psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists, clinical and educational psychologists, child psychiatrists, social workers, teachers and carers.

Psychoanalysis and Severe Disorders in Young Children presents case material and resources for professionals working with young children in the clinic and in the community.Presented in two main parts, the book explores Nahir Bonifacino’s work with children and their parents. The first part presents clinical case material from her work with several young children with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, illustrating an adaptation of child psychoanalytic technique that encourages patient communication. Part 2 considers outreach in the community, with resources for parents and professionals in frontline care roles that focus on a preventative approach to child mental health. The book closes with an appendix which translates psychoanalytic resources for use in early childhood education and care institutions.Psychoanalysis and Severe Disorders in Young Children will be of great interest to child psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists, clinical and educational psychologists, child psychiatrists, social workers, teachers and carers.

The Defenses in Psychoanalysis explores the nature and assessment of defense mechanisms through an integration of psychoanalytic theory and empirical research in contemporary psychoanalysis.Presented in two parts, the first section offers a comprehensive overview of major psychoanalytic contributions to the understanding of defense, from Freud’s foundational ideas to contemporary developments. This section serves as a conceptual foundation for the empirical work that follows and provides a coherent synthesis of key perspectives, aimed especially at readers less familiar with psychoanalytic thinking. The second section presents the development and validation of the Comprehensive Rorschach Defense System (CRDS), a tool developed in collaboration with Carl B. Gacono for coding defense mechanisms in Rorschach protocols. The structure and coding criteria of the CRDS are explained and illustrated with numerous examples, followed by the presentation of data from a validation study supporting its reliability and clinical significance. The book concludes with a clinical chapter demonstrating how the CRDS can be used to deepen psychoanalytic understanding of defensive functioning.The Defenses in Psychoanalysis will be of interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training and to psychologists with psychodynamic training.

The Defenses in Psychoanalysis explores the nature and assessment of defense mechanisms through an integration of psychoanalytic theory and empirical research in contemporary psychoanalysis.Presented in two parts, the first section offers a comprehensive overview of major psychoanalytic contributions to the understanding of defense, from Freud’s foundational ideas to contemporary developments. This section serves as a conceptual foundation for the empirical work that follows and provides a coherent synthesis of key perspectives, aimed especially at readers less familiar with psychoanalytic thinking. The second section presents the development and validation of the Comprehensive Rorschach Defense System (CRDS), a tool developed in collaboration with Carl B. Gacono for coding defense mechanisms in Rorschach protocols. The structure and coding criteria of the CRDS are explained and illustrated with numerous examples, followed by the presentation of data from a validation study supporting its reliability and clinical significance. The book concludes with a clinical chapter demonstrating how the CRDS can be used to deepen psychoanalytic understanding of defensive functioning.The Defenses in Psychoanalysis will be of interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training and to psychologists with psychodynamic training.

Paths of Symbolization explores philosophical and psychoanalytic questions about the concept of symbolization.Alain Gibeault connects symbolization with concepts like playing, sublimation and creation. With reference to Freud’s metapsychology and the French context specifically, Gibeault explores the significance of symbolization in analytic work. This book studies the theoretical questions raised by the concept of symbolization in the history of psychoanalytic thought and clarifies what is at stake when symbolization is impaired—particularly in the treatment of psychotic, borderline, and neurotic states. Through a wealth of clinical material, the author illustrates how symbolization mediates between inner and outer realities, enabling the emergence of thought, representation, and transformation. By comparing these cases, readers are invited to grasp the specific therapeutic contributions of French psychoanalysis in fostering psychic integration and the working through of unconscious conflict.Paths of Symbolization will be of great interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training, particularly those looking to better understand theoretical, clinical, and technical aspects of French psychoanalysis. It will also be relevant for academics and scholars of psychoanalytic studies, other areas of mental health and philosophy.

Paths of Symbolization explores philosophical and psychoanalytic questions about the concept of symbolization.Alain Gibeault connects symbolization with concepts like playing, sublimation and creation. With reference to Freud’s metapsychology and the French context specifically, Gibeault explores the significance of symbolization in analytic work. This book studies the theoretical questions raised by the concept of symbolization in the history of psychoanalytic thought and clarifies what is at stake when symbolization is impaired—particularly in the treatment of psychotic, borderline, and neurotic states. Through a wealth of clinical material, the author illustrates how symbolization mediates between inner and outer realities, enabling the emergence of thought, representation, and transformation. By comparing these cases, readers are invited to grasp the specific therapeutic contributions of French psychoanalysis in fostering psychic integration and the working through of unconscious conflict.Paths of Symbolization will be of great interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training, particularly those looking to better understand theoretical, clinical, and technical aspects of French psychoanalysis. It will also be relevant for academics and scholars of psychoanalytic studies, other areas of mental health and philosophy.

Narcissism: Psychoanalytic Clinicians and Researchers in Dialogue presents current research and practice on working psychoanalytically with narcissism.The contributors discuss a broad spectrum of approaches for understanding narcissism, from cultural-theoretical and social perspectives to clinical psychoanalytic observations and conceptual clarifications of terms, and new interdisciplinary and extra-clinical psychoanalytic research. Part I deals with the social danger posed by the close, unconscious link between pathological narcissism and extreme destructiveness. Part II is devoted to insights gained from years of psychoanalysis and long-term psychoanalytic treatment of patients with narcissistic pathology. Part III discusses how psychoanalysis tries to meet contemporary cultural challenges, and this book concludes with three chapters devoted to the important issue of narcissism in adolescence and young adulthood.This book will be essential reading for psychoanalysts in practice and in training.

Narcissism: Psychoanalytic Clinicians and Researchers in Dialogue presents current research and practice on working psychoanalytically with narcissism.The contributors discuss a broad spectrum of approaches for understanding narcissism, from cultural-theoretical and social perspectives to clinical psychoanalytic observations and conceptual clarifications of terms, and new interdisciplinary and extra-clinical psychoanalytic research. Part I deals with the social danger posed by the close, unconscious link between pathological narcissism and extreme destructiveness. Part II is devoted to insights gained from years of psychoanalysis and long-term psychoanalytic treatment of patients with narcissistic pathology. Part III discusses how psychoanalysis tries to meet contemporary cultural challenges, and this book concludes with three chapters devoted to the important issue of narcissism in adolescence and young adulthood.This book will be essential reading for psychoanalysts in practice and in training.

This book explores the concept of estrangement from a psychoanalytic perspective, intertwining art and aesthetics to offer a paradigm of the aesthetic experience.Gabriela Goldstein suggests that an unexpected encounter with a work of art may lead to a state of poetic estrangement, promoting a possible reorganization of its subject’s psychic economy. The conceptual work is illuminated with vignettes exploring the experience of this state of estrangement, reflecting on the encounter between the subject and the other/Other, between analyst and patient and in the framework provided by the analytical situation. Finally, Goldstein considers how the metapsychology of aesthetic experience and its research contribute to clinical understanding of processes of deficient symbolization.Art and Psychoanalysis will be key reading for psychoanalysts, artists, researchers, and teachers of art and psychoanalysis. It will also be of great interest to art therapists, students of art and the humanities, as well as other readers interested in an in-depth understanding of the aesthetic experience and creative processes.

This book explores the concept of estrangement from a psychoanalytic perspective, intertwining art and aesthetics to offer a paradigm of the aesthetic experience.Gabriela Goldstein suggests that an unexpected encounter with a work of art may lead to a state of poetic estrangement, promoting a possible reorganization of its subject’s psychic economy. The conceptual work is illuminated with vignettes exploring the experience of this state of estrangement, reflecting on the encounter between the subject and the other/Other, between analyst and patient and in the framework provided by the analytical situation. Finally, Goldstein considers how the metapsychology of aesthetic experience and its research contribute to clinical understanding of processes of deficient symbolization.Art and Psychoanalysis will be key reading for psychoanalysts, artists, researchers, and teachers of art and psychoanalysis. It will also be of great interest to art therapists, students of art and the humanities, as well as other readers interested in an in-depth understanding of the aesthetic experience and creative processes.

Couple Work, Work with Couples provides a new exploration of psychoanalysis with couples. Éric Smadja takes two key approaches, first providing a metapsychological exploration of couple work – at intrapsychic-individual, intersubjective and group levels – and investigating love, being in love and the principal structural phases and psychic organisers of couples, then exploring the work of the choice of conjugal object and its historicity. He also introduces and develops useful notions such as intertransferential neurosis at work at the intersubjective level. Smadja continues by rethinking psychoanalytic work with couples, with reference to the work of leading French psychoanalysts, group analysts and couple analysts. The book highlights specific features of working with couples, such as the creation of a specific analytic situation – “the therapeutic group” – and then considers the benefits and expected effects of this kind of work.With clinical material from the author’s work throughout, Couple Work, Work with Couples will appeal to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically informed clinicians working with couples.

Couple Work, Work with Couples provides a new exploration of psychoanalysis with couples. Éric Smadja takes two key approaches, first providing a metapsychological exploration of couple work – at intrapsychic-individual, intersubjective and group levels – and investigating love, being in love and the principal structural phases and psychic organisers of couples, then exploring the work of the choice of conjugal object and its historicity. He also introduces and develops useful notions such as intertransferential neurosis at work at the intersubjective level. Smadja continues by rethinking psychoanalytic work with couples, with reference to the work of leading French psychoanalysts, group analysts and couple analysts. The book highlights specific features of working with couples, such as the creation of a specific analytic situation – “the therapeutic group” – and then considers the benefits and expected effects of this kind of work.With clinical material from the author’s work throughout, Couple Work, Work with Couples will appeal to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically informed clinicians working with couples.

In Technosubjectivities, Ezquerra invites readers to reconsider the core concepts of psychoanalysis—unconscious, body, drive, transitional object, psychosexuality, and the conditions of symbolization—in light of virtual environments and technologically mediated experiences.Drawing on clinical experience and contemporary culture, the author proposes an innovative psychoanalytic approach for a post-organic clinic. She argues that a new psychoanalytic field is emerging at the crossroads of hybridization, technoculture, and processes of subjectivation. The book explores how subjectivation unfolds at the intersection of human and non-human agencies, animate and inanimate objects, artificial and natural forms, and realities and virtualities. It weaves conceptual argument with detailed clinical case studies, including the encounter between a psychoanalyst and the world's first state-recognised cyborg.This ground-breaking book is essential reading for clinicians dealing with technology-mediated lives, psychoanalysts, neuroscientists, and readers interested in philosophy, psychoanalysis, anthropology, art, technology, and the humanities and to anyone wishing to reflect on the transformations of our time.

In Technosubjectivities, Ezquerra invites readers to reconsider the core concepts of psychoanalysis—unconscious, body, drive, transitional object, psychosexuality, and the conditions of symbolization—in light of virtual environments and technologically mediated experiences.Drawing on clinical experience and contemporary culture, the author proposes an innovative psychoanalytic approach for a post-organic clinic. She argues that a new psychoanalytic field is emerging at the crossroads of hybridization, technoculture, and processes of subjectivation. The book explores how subjectivation unfolds at the intersection of human and non-human agencies, animate and inanimate objects, artificial and natural forms, and realities and virtualities. It weaves conceptual argument with detailed clinical case studies, including the encounter between a psychoanalyst and the world's first state-recognised cyborg.This ground-breaking book is essential reading for clinicians dealing with technology-mediated lives, psychoanalysts, neuroscientists, and readers interested in philosophy, psychoanalysis, anthropology, art, technology, and the humanities and to anyone wishing to reflect on the transformations of our time.

Urgency and Hope in Couple and Family Psychoanalysis is a profound exploration of how psychoanalysis can address the emotional realities and challenges faced by couples and families in today’s complex world.This volume, born from the 8th International Congress on Couple and Family Psychoanalysis, brings together contributions from psychoanalysts across the globe to examine themes such as the psychic legacy of war, transgenerational trauma, evolving family configurations, and the impact of gender and sexual diversity on relational dynamics. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of thinkers like Isidoro Berenstein and Janine Puget, the book highlights the transformative potential of psychoanalysis in moments of rupture, loss, and change. Through clinical material, theoretical insights, and cross-cultural dialogue, the chapters explore how trauma, displacement, gender transformations, and social instability reshape psychic life and relationships. It demonstrates how psychoanalytic thinking continues to evolve, offering tools to understand, contain, and transform suffering in contemporary couples and families.This volume is intended for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, clinicians working with couples and families, and colleagues in psychoanalytic training. It will also be of interest to scholars and mental health professionals concerned with trauma, social violence, gender, and the dynamics of human links in contemporary societies.