Phoenix Publishing House – serie

2021 Gradiva Award WinnerThe Piggle is one of the most famous and beloved child cases in the history of psychoanalysis. A two-year-old girl suffering from terrible nightmares, depression, and self-harming behaviours, the Piggle, came to Donald Winnicott for treatment. In writing up the case and allowing it to be published (with the posthumous help of his wife Clare and his student, Ishak Ramsey), Winnicott invited the world into his consulting room and allowed the inner world of the very young child to be seen.Seven psychoanalysts rediscover the Piggle, meeting her as an adult, re-scrutinising the case as it was formulated by Winnicott, and suggesting new understandings of the Piggle’s material. Introduced by a foreword from Angela Joyce, the book features an interview with the adult Piggle, discussing her recollections of the treatment and her view of its impact many years on, as well as a meticulous historical overview from an investigation of ‘The Piggle‘ archive revealing previously unknown information, a critical, detailed reappraisal of the case, and reflections from several authors on how modern psychoanalytic technique might be applied to the case were the Piggle to be seen in 2020.In this age, when the voice of the child needs to be heard more than ever, Finding The Piggle gives new life to this classic piece of psychoanalytic literature in which the importance of the child’s feelings and conflicts is made abundantly clear. With this comprehensive exploration, a new generation of clinicians and others can rediscover this important case and think about it anew.

Gathering together an incredible array of contributors from the past century of the Tavistock to cover all aspects of amazing work they do. With chapters from David Armstrong, James Astor, Andrew Balfour, Fred Balfour, Sara Barratt, David Bell, Sandy Bourne, Wesley Carr, Andrew Cooper, Gwyn Daniel, Dilys Daws, Domenico di Ceglie, Emilia Dowling, Andrew Elder, Caroline Garland, Peter Griffiths, Rob Hale, Sarah Helps, Beth Holgate, Juliet Hopkins, Marcus Johns, Sebastian Kraemer, James Krantz, Mary Lindsay, Julian Lousada, Louise Lyon, David Malan, Gillian Miles, Lisa Miller, Mary Morgan, Nell Nicholson, Anton Obholzer, Paul Pengelly, Maria Rhode, Margaret Rustin, Michael Rustin, Edward R. Shapiro, Valerie Sinason, Jenny Sprince, John Steiner, Jon Stokes, David Taylor, Judith Trowell, Margot Waddell, and Gianna WilliamsThe Tavistock Century traces the developmental path taken from the birth of a progressive and inspirational institution. From their wartime and post-war experience, John Rickman, Wilfred Bion, Eric Trist, Isabel Menzies, John Bowlby, Esther Bick, Michael Balint, and James Robertson left us a legacy of innovation based on intimate observation of human relatedness.The book contains entries across the full range of disciplines in the lifecycle, extending, for example, from research to group relations, babies, adolescents, couples, even pantomime. It will be of enormous value to anyone working in the helping professions; clinicians, social workers, health visitors, GPs, teachers, as well as social science scholars and a host of others who are directly or indirectly in touch with the Tavistock wellspring.

Identity politics have taken a strong hold on modern society, in particular online on social media platforms. But to what extent have they contributed to human flourishing? Have they changed the world for the better, and to what extent? David Pilgrim explores identity politics as a ‘curate’s egg’: good and bad in parts. The good, that they shine light on topics that may previously have been neglected. The bad, their tendency towards absolutism and premature certainties. The world is nuanced and contradictory, and our awareness of it is highly partial. Identity politics are an inadequate response to that complexity and mystery of life. They take away the need to give free expression to all views, including those we may not only disagree with but might also find offensive. Pilgrim re-establishes a realist objection to strong social constructivist arguments within social science about gender, sexualities, and putative moral panics.This accessible book is a must-read for anyone with an interest in contemporary policy formation or reform. It will appeal to students and professionals from the fields of sociology, politics, social policy, social work, philosophy, mental health, and public health.

Over the past decade, the Portuguese Psychoanalytical Society took the opportunity to restructure and redefine their organisation. As part of this process, they invited outstanding psychoanalysts from all over the world to present their thoughts, reflections, and clinical investigations. These conferences, workshops, and working groups helped shape the modern society, bringing in vibrant new ideas.Reflections on Contemporary Psychoanalytic Thought showcases the best of these significant contributions with chapters from David Bell, Franco Borgogno, Luis J. Martín Cabré, R. D. Hinshelwood, Howard B. Levine, Andrea Marzi, Sérgio Eduardo Nick, Leopold Nosek, Fernando Orduz, Éric Smadja, and Virginia Ungar. Each chapter begins with an introduction from one of the editors, Rui Aragão Oliveira, Maria José Gonçalves, and João Diniz, which contextualises their impact at the time, the transformations they brought about, and their continuing relevance to the psychoanalytic community. A treasure trove of cutting-edge psychoanalytic ideas from leading critical thinkers, it brings insights into institutional dynamics, Freud and culture, virtual space and identity, the contemporary hysterical body, misogyny, the psychoanalytic community, suicide, the ideas of Sándor Ferenczi, and much more. Grouped into two stimulating sections – Psychoanalysis and contemporaneity and Theory of psychoanalytic technique – the book is an absolute must-read for psychoanalysts and will be of interest to other mental health professionals, students, and all open to engaging with contemporary psychoanalytic concepts.

The book contains reflections from Eva Almassy, Jacqueline Amati-Mehler, Pina Antinucci, Antal Bokay, Julia Borossa, John Clare, Ferenc Erós, Susan Haxell,Eva Hoffman, Kathleen Kelley-Lainé, Leon Kleimberg, W. Gordon Lawrence, Judit Mészáros, Gershon J. Molad, George Pick, Rachel Rosenblum, Tamara Stajner-Popovic, Riccardo Steiner, Judit Szekacs-Weisz, Judith E. Vida, Shula Wilson, and Ali Zarbafi. Lost Childhood and the Language of Exile invites the reader to enter a territory which is not only multilingual but multidimensional: defined and shaped by history, politics, economy, and sociocultural transformations. The contributions give important insights on the psychodynamic processes involved in working with, and being part of, exiled and immigrant populations. The majority of the stories take as their base the upheaval caused by the Second World War but their stories are still, sadly, relevant today with the ongoing plight of refugees the world over. By presenting their experiences, the contributors provide a vital record of what it means to leave your homeland behind, to make a new life in a new land, and to live and work in a second tongue. The aim was, and is, to provide stimulus for further thinking and research. Two contributors, Ali Zarbafi and Shula Wilson, took up that challenge and we were delighted to publish their contribution to this debate in their edited work, Mother Tongue and Other Tongues: Narratives in Multilingual Psychotherapy (2021).

Kevin Volkan and Vamık Volkan present a comprehensive study of schizophrenia using a psychoanalytic lens on the existing interdisciplinary research. Over the last seventy years, mainstream research on the causes, prevalence, and treatment of schizophrenia has greatly diverged from psychoanalytic thinking. However, the emergence of the field of neuropsychoanalysis brings hope that psychoanalytic metapsychology and clinical theory may once again provide valuable insight into understanding schizophrenia.Psychoanalytic treatment may not be appropriate for many sufferers but psychoanalysis does provide insight to inform and improve treatment. It can also illuminate what aspects of schizophrenia are common across cultures, where they present unique characteristics, and just how cultural variations occur. For any future improvement in understanding and treating schizophrenia, the cultural underpinnings and expressions of schizophrenic illness need to be made clear.For clinicians in the field, the authors’ aim is to deepen insight and promote the use of psychotherapy and integrated treatments, while increasing sensitivity to cultural variations in schizophrenic disease. Accordingly, this book is divided into four sections. The first gives a brief overview and outline of the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia. The second drills down to focus on general psychoanalytic ideas about schizophrenia, culminating with a focus on problems with early object relations. The third looks at how psychoanalytic treatment can be successful in some cases. The fourth and final part discusses how views of the disorder and the disorder itself are affected by culture.The authors hope to generate insight and understanding of schizophrenic disorders which could lead to new approaches to treating and possibly preventing schizophrenia. It is a must-read for all clinicians and trainees working in the field and presents interesting ideas to anyone with an interest in the subject.

This book describes Trumpism: the strong allegiance to former President Donald Trump that is in evidence among a sizable portion of the US population. How did Trump come to be elected in 2016, and who supported him during his presidential tenure – and why? How is it that he continues to hold cult-like status, exerting a strong influence not only on many individuals but also on numerous elected officials, despite his defeat in 2020? Why does his character continue to be an object of fascination even among anti-Trumpists, and why will Trumpism continue to play a major role in the American sociopolitical landscape even now he has left the presidential stage?Michael J. Diamond ponders these questions through the lenses of American history and culture, political theory, social phenomena, group dynamics, and psychoanalysis. In exploring the relationship between large-group regression, cultism, destructive populism, delusional thinking, conspiratorial beliefs, authoritarianism, and leadership characterised by narcissism and paranoia, psychoanalytic ideas pertaining to group dynamics, malignant regression, and leadership are brought into play. Prominent psychoanalytic thinkers who have addressed these topics and whose work usefully contributes to the discussion include Bion, Freud, Fromm, Bollas, Kernberg, Lifton, Rosenfeld, and Volkan, as well as Bleger, Jaques, and several more recent Kleinian/Bionian-influenced analysts. Most important, the book makes use of these understandings to reestablish a sufficiently containing frame that strengthens the body politics’ nonpathological elements in order to come to grips with these disturbing factors.Whatever their political beliefs, psychoanalysts in the US and worldwide will find much to think about in reading this book’s application of their discipline to today’s sociopolitical environment. In addition, the book’s insights extend beyond arguments targeting a strictly psychoanalytic audience in order to reach social and political thinkers, as well as activists, who are deeply concerned about dangers threatening the very foundations of democracy in the US and worldwide. And finally, the thoughtful lay person will appreciate the accessibility to all these fields that the book provides, and will come away with a much deeper understanding of just what motivates us to take a stand for or against a given political figure. In short, conceptual tools are provided that lead to greater understanding as well as effective strategies and tactics for containment of destructive forces – largely unconscious ones – that imperil our society.

Contributors include Anthony Berendt, Birgitte Bonnerup, Leslie B. Brissett, Halina Brunning, Tim Dartington, Winnie Fei, M. Gerard Fromm, Zhang Jian Li, Olya Khaleelee, Andrzej Leder, Richard Morgan-Jones, Claudia Nagel, Mario Perini, Rob Stuart, Simon Western, and Barbara-Anne Wren.The idea of The Covid Trail developed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Using the language of psychoanalysis and system psychodynamic thinking, it seeks to find a way to think about and understand the post-pandemic world from an international perspective. Motivated by a desire to express what is hidden, dangerous, and difficult to express, this book takes us on a trail. It starts with disquiet, disorientation, and loss in Part I. Through attempts to make sense of it all, a clear, albeit meandering and dangerous, path to follow is created, which snakes throughout the book. Part II takes a closer look at despair and resilience and pairs them through balancing power with vulnerability. Part III delves into the realm of psychoanalysis, to seek solace, or at least a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of the pandemic, and examines how we have sown our own environmental destruction. The final part offers a glimpse into the post-Covidian world and the longer and deeper impact of Covid upon our bodies, relationships, constructs, and civilisation.The volume ends on a trail of each chapter’s essence, taking the reader from shock, disorientation, and fear through mobilisation of resilience, a realisation of the enormity of the changes humanity faces, and an attempt to comprehend these processes as a guide to this permanent “new normal”. All those with a desire to understand the way the world has changed will want to explore The Covid Trail.

Jean Benjamin Stora has worked as a psychoanalyst and psychosomatist for almost five decades. The aim of integrative psychosomatics is to heal the body and mind in relationship to one another rather than treating the body as a machine with parts to be fixed. Thus, Stora explores a patient’s current and past life history in relation to physical illness and offers therapeutic support alongside medical treatments. To better understand this revolutionary approach, Stora presents fifteen case studies from the past twenty years. We read of George suffering from hyperlipidemia; Giles, a diabetic facing amputation; Elvira, an alcoholic; Dorothy, who complains the doctors treat body parts but not her; Beatrice facing a reappearance of breast cancer; and ten further patients. This complex process takes into account the fundamental role of the central nervous system in the relationship of mind and body. Thus, neuroscience is a key component of this holistic approach, as well as the new discipline of neuropsychoanalysis. This is most clearly shown in the case of Emma, suffering after brain surgery.The Psychosomatic Therapy Casebook is an excellent introduction to integrative psychosomatics. The stories presented in the first four chapters can be read by anyone with an interest in the subject. The fifth and final chapter is aimed at psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, and doctors looking to gain a greater understanding of the practice. It contains a comprehensive review of the technical points involved and clearly shows the difference between psychoanalytic technique and the technique of psychosomatic therapy. This is an important book in learning to treat the person as a whole rather than split into mind and body.

Pierre Delion is Professor Emeritus in the faculty of medicine at Lille, a child psychiatrist, and a psychoanalyst. His work is as straightforward as it is affecting but is little read in the English-speaking world due to a lack of translation into English. Matthew Bowker, in his excellent translation, rectifies this unfortunate deficit to introduce English-language readers to the affecting and wide-ranging work of Pierre Delion through two of his best-known essays.What is Institutional Psychotherapy? examines the psychiatric establishment and institution, arguing that for institutional psychotherapy to be effective, we must “care for the institution” just as we must attend to the “transferential constellation” of the patient, the latter of which emerges only when the institution respects all the voices (including the patient’s) involved in the patient’s care. And, as Delion duly notes: “What holds for person-to-person psychiatry also holds true for democracy.”The Republic of False Selves maintains that our social bonds have been damaged or destroyed to the extent that the practice and meaning of democracy itself are now in question. Democracy, for Delion, “refers not only to forms of government, but also to a society based on freedom and equality, or more generally still, to a set of values: political, social, or cultural ideals and principles.” The democratic project, then, is threatened by contemporary political events, media images, neoliberal and techno-bureaucratic interventions, and even or especially the treatment of the mentally ill.The combination of these two works into a single text invites readers to consider the broader political connections between the clinical institution and society as a whole. Delion’s careful thoughtfulness paired with his vast experience and understanding opens up new avenues of discovery to the reader.

What can psychoanalysis contribute to the interpretation and understanding of cultural products, in particular, literary works? What, on the other hand, can novels and plays offer to widen the conceptual and theoretical perspectives in psychology and psychoanalysis?The interpretative strategies offered by psychoanalysis, often unfamiliar to cultural studies, can adorn literature with new meaning. Psychoanalysis enables the perspective of unconscious motivations of social action and thought and widens semiotic strategies to understand linguistic, and even infra-linguistic, signs. Conversely, psychoanalytic thinking has since its advent greatly profited from literature and literary criticism. From Freud onwards, psychoanalytic theory has integrated poetic knowledge or transformed epistemological and interpretative concepts of cultural studies into psychoanalysis.Nine chapters each cover a famous work of literature from the likes of William Shakespeare and Herman Melville. Joachim Küchenhoff interprets each work from a psychoanalytic perspective while simultaneously combing its content for lessons which can be drawn and utilised in psychoanalytic practice, thereby eliciting the symbiotic relationship between the two fields.Covering topics ranging from the tolerance for loss and the negative in King Lear to the difficulties in mourning and beginning anew in Nathan Hill’s The Nix, this intriguing work is a must-read for all those with an interest in literature, as well as those in the psychoanalytic field who wish to expand their knowledge base and adopt new and different ways of thinking.

With contributions from Salman Akhtar, Patricia Boguski, Ann Eichen, April Fallon, Theodore Fallon, Jr., Rama Rao Gogineni, Mark Moore, Sonja Ware.Collectively authored by psychoanalytic colleagues of multiple nationalities, ages, genders, religious origins, and meta-theoretical persuasions, Besides Family goes far beyond the usual orbit of parents and siblings. Casting a wide net, the contributors look at a number of key figures who may affect an individual’s psychic development and functioning. Each character receives a full chapter which highlights both the beneficial and adverse possibilities within these relationships.The book opens with a chapter on nannies, tracing the centuries-old history in the West and focusing on four renowned psychoanalysts: Sigmund Freud, Sándor Ferenczi, John Bowlby, and Wilfred Bion. Next comes a discussion of neighbours, using material from religious texts, fiction, and poetry. This is followed by a chapter on childhood playmates and friends, which examines the nature of friendship and how it develops across the lifespan. School teachers come next, using literature on teacher–student relationships synthesised with psychoanalytic developmental theory. Clergy is the next subject of discussion, blending Judeo-Christian religious customs with psychoanalytic developmental theory. The developmental significance of adolescent peers is examined next using a blend of neurophysiology, endocrine studies, behavioral observations, social–cultural vectors, and psychoanalytic insights. A discussion of lovers and the myriad ways in which romantic relationships mirror early development is the penultimate chapter. The book ends on the role of mentors and the evolution of the mentor–mentee relationship, taking into account the impact of age, race, and gender.The authors integrate material from history, anthropology, sociology, religion, literature, and film studies alongside vignettes from clinical practice and day-to-day life to bring theory to life. This fascinating exploration is essential reading for practising clinicians and trainees to broaden their understanding of the impact of the wide network that surrounds us all.

Since the introduction of psychoanalysis, radical paradigm shifts have occurred in philosophy, science, mathematics, and the arts. How we exchange information, how we interact on the global stage, and how we conceive of ourselves as citizens have also evolved. And yet, depth psychotherapy remains locked within its nineteenth-century image, poorly understood by those not intimately involved in its processes. Lover, Exorcist, Critic dives deeply into the field’s history, examining the cultural and historical context from which it emerged, and explaining how it evolved into a more vitalising methodology. Alan Michael Karbelnig exposes the inner workings of depth psychotherapy using the innovative perspective of three distinct social role analogies. As Lovers, psychoanalysts create a warm, accepting environment; as Exorcists, they receive, process, and deliver back projections; and, as Critics, they analyse, confront, and educate patients about self- and other-destructive patterns.These methods come to life in the rich descriptions of how psychoanalytic processes progressed with three fictional patients. Carlos, who suffered neglect and abuse during his childhood in East Los Angeles, struggled with the emotional intensity of depth psychotherapy and took months-long breaks when he felt too vulnerable. Gilda, a Greek-American woman sexually abused in her adolescence and traumatised by a physical attack in adulthood, grappled with periods of suicidal depression and episodic psychogenic fugue states. These severe symptoms made the psychotherapy process, at various times, difficult to contain. The final patient, Penn, an orthopaedic surgeon struggling with anxiety and over-achievement which left him exhausted, demonstrates the benefit gained by a person undergoing depth psychotherapy, intermittently, for more than two decades. Bravely exploring the failures alongside the successes, Dr. Karbelnig demonstrates the myriad ways psychoanalytic processes unfold and why they remain an effective, even vibrant way to reduce pain, grow, and live a more authentic life.

With contributions from Prachi Akhavi, Salman Akhtar, Cuneyt Iscan, Surreya Iscan, Alan Michael Karbelnig, Kelsey Leon, Clara Mucci, Nina Savelle-Rocklin, Asmita Sharma, Julian Stern, and Thomas Wolman.Food matters begin even before birth with the absorption of nutrients in the womb and continue through baby feeds, family meals, school dinners, barbecues with friends, and romantic meals to the growing dietary restrictions of old age. The role of food is not limited to its life-giving necessity but plays a huge role in communal bonding, cultural tradition, and self-expression.Food Matters investigates the significant role that food plays in all of our lives and is divided into three major sections: Mostly biological, Mostly psychological, and Mostly sociological. ‘Mostly’ because biology, psychology, and sociology are not hermetically sealed subject areas and overlaps into other fields are to be expected. Part I : Mostly biological consists of two chapters. The first pertains to food and health, the second to food and illness. At its core, Chapter One aims to undermine the notion of ‘healthy choices’ and demonstrate a more nuanced vision of what actually builds healthy communities. The varied case material of Chapter Two shows the myriad roles food can play in relation to illness. Part II: Mostly psychological has four chapters, which respectively address the relationship between food and sexuality, aggression, narcissism, and morality using wide-ranging theory and practical case examples. Part III : Mostly sociological has three chapters. The first pertains to money, the second to immigration, and the third to movies, again packed with relevant theory and clinical vignettes, and, in the case of the final chapter, using the movies Waitress and Babette’s Feast to show the central role food plays, even in our fictional lives.This welcome smorgasbord of ideas from an international array of contributors representing the disciplines of psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis, anthropology, and gastroenterology will be essential reading for professionals and academics in those fields and will shed fresh light on the subject for anyone with an interest in the multifaceted meanings of food matters.

Sigmund Freud hired Otto Rank as his secretary and funded Rank’s PhD in literature at the University of Vienna. In 1910, at age 26, Rank published ‘A Dream That Interprets Itself’. Freud could not praise the essay highly enough; impressed by Rank’s erudition, Freud invited his protégé to contribute two chapters, on poetry and myth, in 1914 to The Interpretation of Dreams. Thereafter, Rank’s name would appear under Freud’s on the title page of the foundational text of psychoanalysis for the next fifteen years. Grateful for Freud’s generosity, Rank published a stream of articles and books advancing psychoanalytic thinking into almost every area of the arts and humanities, thus demonstrating to Freud’s critics that the validity of psychoanalysis did not hinge solely on his autobiographical work The Interpretation of Dreams. Rank died in 1939 and his work fell out of favor until a renaissance of interest beginning in the 1970s.This is the first English translation of Rank’s masterpiece of dream interpretation, originally published in 1910 as “Ein Traum, der sich selbst deutet” in the journal Jahrbuch für Psychoanalytische und Psychopathologische Forschungen, 2(2): 465–540. It is accompanied by an in-depth introduction from editor Robert Kramer, the world’s only Rankian psychologist. The book is essential reading for all psychoanalytic scholars, practitioners, and historians, and those interested in dream analysis.

The book includes contributions from Audrey Adeyemi, Tasha Bailey, Kelly Brackett, Jamie Butterworth, Alix Hearn, Evania Inward, Irene Mburu, Sasha Morphitis, Magda Raczynska, Nadja Rolli, Zisi Schleider, and Anna Tuttle.One Tree, Many Branches: The Practice of Integrative Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the pioneering child and adolescent psychotherapy and counselling training organisation Terapia and the achievements of its trainees , tutors, and staff, who provide highly specialised counselling, psychotherapy, and bespoke mental health services for young people, children, parents, and families. Terapia works with individuals, organisations, schools, and the statutory and non-statutory sector and is a strong voice for child psychotherapy as a distinct and specialist profession. Therapeutic work with children requires a different set of skills and knowledge to that of adult psychotherapists. For example, much of the work is non-verbal and uses play and metaphor alongside talking. It also requires involvement with the system around the child, such as parents, families, and professionals, and the management of conflicting agendas and politics to act on behalf of the child.Subjects discussed within its pages include ecopsychotherapy, autism, the lack of male psychotherapists, working with refugees, racial trauma, female genital mutilation, working in closed communities, and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The book is essential reading for all who work with children and opens up exciting and pioneering new approaches for meeting the multifarious needs of our children and adolescents today.

Leadership goes well beyond efficient management, and the significance of emotions on the success of organisations is often underestimated. In Leading With Depth: The Impact of Emotions and Relationships, Claudia Nagel guides us through the emotional and relational fallacies of organisational leadership from both the personal and the systemic perspective.Nagel expertly weaves theory, including attachment, neuroscientific, psychodynamic, psychosocial, and psychoanalytic, with practical advice. She looks at the leader as an individual and leadership as a context within systems such as groups, organisations, and societies. The book is divided into two parts and contains thirty-eight figures to illustrate important aspects of leadership. The first chapter in each part is purely theoretical followed by more method-oriented and practical chapters, which are complemented by pertinent case studies from well-known experts in the field (coaches, consultants, or academics). Contributors include Gilles Amado, Birgitte Bonnerup, Phil Boxterk, Halina Brunning, Annemette Hasselager, Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, Olya Khaleelee, Fiona Martin, Ajit Menon, Rose Mersky, Mal O’Connor, Larissa Philatova, Martin Ringer, Rob Ryan, and Kalina Stamenova. Each chapter concludes with a brief overview of the key learnings for the reader to take away. In this way, Nagel encourages practical learning and application and engagement with the text.Nagel’s clear language spares the reader of academic jargon and is highly readable. The book successfully bridges the gap from theoretical concepts to real-life application and will be of value to incoming and experienced leaders alike, as well as organisational consultants and executive coaches looking to inform their practice.

Following Freud’s rather cold conception of fathers and a relative neglect of their role in psychoanalytic theory is a challenge to continue more recent efforts to develop a psychoanalytically affirmative portrait of fatherhood. Here, fathers are attuned to relational mutuality and intimacy as a source of flourishing. Rapprochement is understood as a sub-phase of child development marked by a dramatic expression of conflict such as, “Hear me, see me, give me space, don’t give me space.” In addition, rapprochement is considered to characterize conflicts between autonomy and dependency across the lifespan. An often muted and subtle tension between holding and letting go persists. Working with what is felt entails entering a never fully completed negotiation marked by misreadings, bias, and illusion. ‘Father’ is understood to be a name pointing to a parenting function. With material that includes the grief of failed reunion, particular stories are mediated through thinking alongside philosophy and psychoanalytic theory in order to further explore the difficulty of integrating nurturing capacities into conceptions of masculinity. As a critique of gendered rigidity, a case is made for a social surround that declares mutual vulnerability to exist in a state of permanent inquiry and relational curiosity. Such openness can function to aid parents, clinicians, and respective community members to privilege the development of increased frustration tolerance. By extension, a good-enough father is one who recognizes breakdown, a need for refueling, and possesses and practices a willingness to encounter uneven rhythms in human dimensions.This thoughtful work brings fresh insight into the role of the father and masculinity and is essential reading for mental health professionals.

In Short: Private Notes of a Psychoanalyst is wise, uplifting and inspiring. Salman Akhtar brings his talent for poetic literature to gift us 111 pithy ‘proto-essays’ on a wide range of subjects. His meditations touch upon mental health, humor, death, animals, Freud, religion, children, and so much more. He imparts his advice with the lightest of touches, willing you to partake, consider, and refine his offerings. His aim: to further the cause and message of his beloved psychoanalysis.

This book was written to meet the need of therapists: a succinct, thorough, practical, clear, down-to-earth handbook to which a therapist can refer as needed. Many, if not most, therapists have encountered a victim of complex mind control and ritual abuse, and most therapists feel deskilled in this work. Working with such clients is a challenge for therapists, given the extreme and prolonged nature of the clients’ trauma, the severity of their dissociative disorders, the complexity of the mind control they have experienced, and the reality of organised perpetrator groups who follow up on their victims. Every therapist needs to know the basics of this work.Chapter 1 defines and explains dissociation, ritual abuse, and mind control. It lists indicators which suggest a client may be a victim, and recommends developing ‘reflective belief (or possibly) disbelief’ rather than maintaining ‘therapeutic neutrality’. Chapter 2, The therapeutic relationship, describes victims’ training to not form bonds, the parental nature of the therapeutic bond with such clients, and practical ways to relate to someone dealing with internal multiplicity. Chapter 3, The life of a mind control survivor, describes victims’ planned experiences from infancy all the way through adulthood. Chapter 4, Engineered personality systems, describes the most common forms of training or programming, and the ‘jobs’ of inner parts of the victim. Chapter 5, Stabilisation and internal safety, explains the way in which some parts punish the victim for disloyalty by creating destabilising symptoms. Chapter 6, Working with the personality system, describes internal hierarchies and how to work with them. Chapter 7, Present-day physical safety, looks at the ongoing torture and harassment of many victims by perpetrator groups, and describes the training of various parts to return to the perpetrators, report to them, and be available for further abuse. Chapter 8, Working through the traumatic memories, gives guidelines regarding how to help a client work through the numerous traumatic training memories. Chapter 9, Confronting the spiritual issues in ritual abuse, describes the perpetrators’ spiritual/moral abuse and simulation of spiritual entities. It discusses the question of demonic possession, and looks at the real spiritual issues which victims and therapists must deal with. Chapter 10, Healing for our clients and ourselves, discusses victims’ emotional healing, grieving, developing self-esteem and integration, and therapists’ intimidation and vicarious traumatisation.

We have become fixated on ascent in our lives: achieving more, being quicker, and rising up. But what if we are missing the richest life lessons by repressing the difficulties we experience? Both ascent and descent are vital in life. Yet, whilst we are educated on how best to ascend, it is rare we are supported as we descend. Instead, we are encouraged to hide those times from ourselves and others.Richard’s descent was epic. From playing lead roles on West-End stages to receiving a diagnosis of three months to live with a rare cancer. In this heartfelt and moving story, Richard offers a glimpse into his year of monumental descent. He invites us to accompany him as he navigates loss, grief, and heartache in a tale of the beauty and the ugliness of the human condition. How, when illness struck, unexpected love and compassion became the secret healer. Something Richard was determined to share by setting up a charity for others with blood cancer.As a Kite Falls offers food for thought and medicine for the soul. Richard’s humility, humour, and grace shine through on every page. He uses the flow of the seasons and the deceptively simple art of haiku to bring us closer to the importance of space and pause in our lives. Richard’s training in psychotherapy adds a deeper layer of understanding of what it means to be human, while acknowledging that none of us can truly make sense of the load others carry.In a world drowning in noise, As a Kite Falls gifts us a place of quietening down to listen to our own whispers.

With contributions from Prachi Akhavi, Salman Akhtar, Ruth Axelrod-Praes, Lisa Crilley, Victoria Curea, Tom DeRose, Nilofer Kaul, Otto Kernberg, Arsalan Malik, Jack Novick, Kerry Kelly Novick, Philip A. Ringstrom, Louis Rothschild, Asmita Sharma, and Benny Weiss-Steider.The psychosocial existence of human destructiveness, rage, and cruelty directed at others or the self is clearly demonstrated in events throughout the world. It was Sigmund Freud who revealed that the two tendencies, ‘sadism’ and ‘masochism’ constitute a pair – sadomasochism – and often, if not always, coexist in the same fantasy, thought, and action. Mostly, one is on the surface with the other hidden; at other times, a rapid oscillation between the two occurs.Nonetheless many questions remain unanswered. Are sadism and masochism ‘natural’ phenomena or products of derailed and traumatic nurture? Are they always pathological? Can sadomasochistic relations ever be kind? The search for answers led to this book. Divided into three parts – conceptual, cultural, and clinical aspects – the contributors explore Freud’s changing views, contemporary incarnations, the delusion of omnipotence, misogyny and pornography, altruism and martyrdom, society and the family, childhood grieving and failure of mourning, couples psychotherapy, sexual excitement, cruelty, and the use of the internet. With a masterful blend of classic and contemporary theory and clinical practice, their nuanced and thoughtful voices provide an informative and moving work.

Play comes in many forms, such as solitary play, imaginary play, social play, construction play, and many more. To understand the evolution of play, Can We Play Now? introduces five forms of play: sensory play, attachment play, construction play, fantasy play, and competitive play. It then links these five forms of play with Maslow’s well-known hierarchy of needs. This allows the use of a common language to gain evidence-based insight into the physical and emotional development of a human being. In this way, play becomes a roadmap to understanding the emotional world and identity formation of a child, young person, or adult, and addresses the specific needs of each developmental stage. The book also discusses how socioeconomic and cultural influences, such as the use of technology, social media, loss, developmental trauma, intergenerational trauma, and the Covid-19 pandemic, are impacting young people in the context of play development.Can We Play Now? aims to bring a unique contribution to the field of child and adolescent psychotherapy that links key theoretical influences on the role of play within developmental milestones. It aligns findings from neuroscience, object relations, and psychodynamic theories with the various stages and challenges of emotional growth from childhood to adulthood. Clinical examples are integrated to bring the theoretical background of each chapter to life, showing the effectiveness of this approach. The ability to share these insights with child psychotherapists and other professionals who work with children, as well as parents, facilitates the creation of the best environment possible for each child to face the challenges of today’s world. It is also ideal reading for adult psychotherapists who want to understand the continuing importance of play in their clients’ lives.

Learning Beyond Reason: Psychodynamic Case Studies in Education includes contributions from Zahra Ahmed, Christopher Arnold, Dale Bartle, Gemma Ellis, Katie Ellis, Xavier Eloquin, Hannah Fleming, and Aaron Reynolds. Three of the five case studies are based around individual students or young people and the remaining two involve groups of adults involved in working with young people. The first chapter offers an overview of the approaches when applied to individual case work. The second focuses on emotionally based school non-attendance (EBSNA) and the third on working with a young person with multiple social challenges. Chapter 4 takes a psychodynamically informed view of a difficult whole school situation, which includes an analysis of complex relationships in a specialist school. Chapter 5 describes a technique for use with groups of adults working with young people and the insights that arise out of the application of these methods.Each chapter focuses on the unique contributions of psychodynamically informed theories and techniques. The aim: to highlight the efficacy and humanity of psychoanalytic approaches in difficult situations involving young people. It is also hoped that this volume permits space for the reader to reflect on any emotional responses to the situations described in the case studies.This companion book to the editors’ previous publication, Learning from the Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Approaches in Educational Psychology, highlights and publicises the practical applications of such approaches. It can be read as a standalone text or a follow-on that puts theory into practice. It is essential reading for educational psychologists, teachers, educational administrators, trainers of educational psychologists, parents of children with additional needs, and charity workers involved with the lives of children with additional needs.

Entanglements: Weaving Our Futures brings a fresh re-imagining of the challenges facing us in our disruptive age that provides rich and nourishing food for thought. At the heart of the book is the recognition that we live in a new Precarious-Interdependent Age (P-I Age). This calls for a radical shift in how we relate to ourselves, each other, and to our environment. Simon Western presents a score and more of short essays that each respond to a dislocating social or political event: Covid-19, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the rise of ‘woke’ culture and populism, the climate crisis, the meaning of monarchy, and much, much more. Western invites us to ‘look awry’ at the world, enabling us to observe the unconscious currents and symbolic meanings that shape collective experience and personal identity.These evocative reflections with a psychoanalytic sensibility are grounded in lived experience. Drawing on his unique journey from factory floor to nursing, family therapy, academia, and organisational leadership, plus a highly valued time as a stay-at-home father, Western bridges personal narrative with social critique. Themes of loss, care, power, desire, belonging, re-enchantment, and digital disruption are explored, always with the intention to provoke reflection and uncover possibilities for ethical and soulful ways of being.Thus, Western does not deliver glib answers, pithy soundbites, or certainties. Rather, he opens a radical space to explore our troubled and entangled times. This book is unusual as it engages with the deeply personal, the political and the spiritual, utilising a critical but loving lens.

Today sees the rise of nationalism, the return of totalitarian parties in Europe to electoral success, and the rise of the alt-right and white supremacists in the US. Thus, there is urgency for psychoanalysts, with their understanding of cruelty, sadomasochism, perversion, and other mental mechanisms, to speak out. Jonathan Sklar has risen to the challenge with this timely, thought-provoking, and, at times, upsetting work. Dark Times starts with a look at European history in terms of monuments and mourning, before moving into storytelling and the elision of thought and history at this current time, including harrowing detail of the brutalities inflicted by ISIS on the Yazidi, and concludes with a meditation on the relationship between cruelty in the early environment and hatred of the other within society, with particular focus on racism in the US.Sklar goes against the grain of brief sound bites, which are an aid to quickly pass over painful knowledge. Instead, he goes into detail to give extremely dark, horrid occurrences, and the human beings on the receiving end, respect and understanding, which enables the reader greater access to allowing unconscious things to be made more conscious, highlighting the quality of humanity in human beings. Also, listening to these stories enables us to become more aware, not only of what is going on over there, but also what is happening here, because in our increasingly joined-up world, here is always implicated and affected too.By ridding ourselves of the illusions of our political times, we can find greater freedom to think, develop, challenge, and create hope, for the future of our children and our grandchildren, as well as for ourselves. Dark Times is a timely, thought-provoking, and, at times, upsetting work that is a must- read for all those looking for a deeper understanding of today’s world.

Vamık Volkan examines the impact of past and present historical events, cultural elements, political movements and their mental images on the psyche of individuals. Beginning with the history of the debates concerning the relevance of external events to the human psyche, Volkan moves on to look at the spread of psychoanalysis worldwide and the need to become familiar with the cultural, historical, and political issues when working abroad. The remaining chapters follow the story of a successful businessman who calls himself a 'Muslim Armenian'. His psychological journey clearly illustrates how ghosts from the past can remain alive and active in our lives, and how a clear understanding of his people’s history and culture allowed the analyst to understand some important causes of his symptoms and personality characteristics.By presenting a total case report, Volkan illustrates the methods applied to improve the analysand’s psychological health. By presenting a case from the viewpoint of a psychoanalytic supervisor, including the supervisor’s reactions to the individual being analysed, he has exposed another rich topic to consideration. With this book, Vamık Volkan has given us much to reflect upon.

Nina Coltart’s classic work, How to Survive as a Psychotherapist, was written over a quarter of a century ago and yet still resonates today with sage advice for the aspiring and established psychotherapist. This reissue contains a new Foreword from celebrated psychoanalyst David E. Scharff and an updated Further Reading section.Not simply a “how to” manual, this compact book is an amalgam of down-to-earth practicality about assessment, the pleasures of psychotherapy as opposed to analysis, details of how to run a practice, vivid clinical stories which don’t necessarily turn out well, discussions of Buddhism, and an autobiographical finale on the balance between life and work, including Coltart’s choice to live alone. Written in deceptively simple language, it reads easily and encourages beginners, but its backbone is the accrued wisdom for a career containing “survival-with-enjoyment” that offers new perspectives to both mid-career and experienced therapists and teachers.The professional autobiographical quality of the book reveals a lot about Coltart: her love of psychotherapy over full analysis and the number of strictures in analysis that she feels bind rather than guide. She describes the first years, in training and beyond, as full of anxiety: trying to get things right whilst an inner critical voice and the judgement of supervisors and teachers hangs over it all. Slowly, as time goes by, the ability to relax into a career with confidence in one’s own voice, knowledge, and intuition leads to a capacity for enjoyment of what can seem to outsiders a grim profession dealing only with suffering.Coltart’s book celebrates psychotherapy and its practitioners, and is full of interesting and practical advice that both experienced and novice psychotherapists will find invaluable. This enduring classic has stood the test of time and should be a feature of every aficionado’s bookshelf.