PublishedPhoenix Books, April 2023 |
ISBN9781912691616 |
FormatSoftcover, 338 pages |
Dimensions22.9cm × 15.2cm × 2cm |
An insightful book based on decades of experience by two eminent psychoanalysts which looks at those most difficult of patients; the ones whose therapy seems to stall and the therapist struggles to see a way forward; patients who struggle with manifestations of narcissism, envy, and perversion.
Using a blend of theory, case studies, literature, philosophy, and film, Michael and Batya Shoshani have created a masterpiece of psychoanalytic literature. It is an attempt to propose a clinical conceptualisation to enhance their understanding of these lost and confused patients, whose narcissistic struggle against human fate defies reality and truth, challenging the analyst and the analytic situation. Here, the authors are joining a contemporary movement in the psychoanalytic tradition whilst turning to other disciplines in order to better understand and explain the suffering of their patients. The use of literature, in particular the fictional works of Jorge Luis Borges; film, with an in-depth look at Roman Polanski's Bitter Moon (1992) and Denis Villeneuve's Incendies (2010); and philosophy, the ideas of Heidegger and how they link to those of Freud, coupled together with a solid grasp of psychoanalytic theory, such as reflections on Neville Symington's seminal theory of narcissism, interspersed with real-life case studies bring the chapters alive. Such interplay between the detailed clinical material and conceptual formulations to an interdisciplinary dialogue enables a different outlook that will enrich the ongoing professional discourse on these perplexing and illusive psychic phenomena.
