Christine C. Kieffer

This book examines emerging trends in contemporary psychoanalytic theory and practice, highlighting inter-subjective and relational models of the mind. The author presents vivid and extended clinical vignettes that demonstrate the analyst's use of the self in building clinical momentum and continued development. The author highlights the importance of mutuality and recognition in the development of the self, illustrating the impact of family, the larger group context, and the contribution of the analytic encounter. This book is divided into three sections: First, the contribution of family to development, including some relatively neglected topics, such as the importance of fathers in female development, the role of siblings, the experience of 'only' children or singletons in the family, and the impact of the extended family (including grandparents) upon the individual. A second section examines the influence of unconscious group processes upon individual development and functioning, and includes papers that highlight the contribution of group psychotherapy as a form of treatment.

Psychoanalytic Reflections

Mutuality, Recognition, and the Self

Nancy McWilliams

Ellen L. K. Toronto

Gemma Ainslie

Molly Donovan

Maurine Kelly

The past two decades of psychoanalytic discourse have witnessed a marked transformation in the way we think about women and gender. The assignment of gender carries with it a host of assumptions, yet without it we can feel lost in a void, unmoored from the world of rationality, stability and meaning. The feminist analytic thinkers whose work is collected here confront the meaning established by the assignment of gender and the uncertainty created by its absence. The contributions brought together in Psychoanalytic Reflections on a Gender-free Case address a cross-section of significant issues that have both chronicled and facilitated the changes in feminist psychoanalysis since the mid 1980s. Difficult issues which have previously been ignored (such as the pregnancy of the therapist or sexual abuse regarded as more than a fantasy) are considered first. The book goes on to address family perspectives as they interact and shape the child’s experience of growing up male or female. Other topics covered are the authority of personal agency as influenced by the language and theory of patriarchy, male-centred concepts that consistently define women as inferior, and the concept of gender as being co-constructed within a relationship. The gender-free case presented here will fascinate all psychoanalysts interested in exploring ways of grappling with the elusive nature of gender, as well as those studying gender studies.

Into the Void

Psychoanalytic Reflections on a Gender-free Case

Christine C. Kieffer

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