Margot Waddell

This second edition of the remarkable Inside Lives (expanded with a chapter on the last years of the life cycle) provides a perspective on the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and the nature of human development. Following the major developmental phases from infancy to old age, the author lucidly explores the vital aspects of experience which promote mental and emotional growth and those which impede it. In bringing together a wide range of clinical, non-clinical and literary examples, it offers a detailed and accessible introduction to contemporary psychoanalytic thought and provides a personal and vivid approach to the elusive question of how the personality develops.

Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality

Inside Lives

Meg Harris Williams

Literature is recognised as having significantly influenced the development of modern psychoanalytic thought. In recent years psychoanalysis has drawn increasingly on the literary and artistic traditions of western culture and moved away from its original medical–scientific context. Originally published in 1991 The Chamber of Maiden Thought (Keats's metaphor for 'the awakening of the thinking principle') is an original and revealing exploration of the seminal role of literature in forming the modern psychoanalytic model of the mind. The crux of the 'post-Kleinian' psychoanalytic view of personality development lies in the internal relations between the self and the mind's 'objects'. Meg Harris Williams and Margot Waddell show that these relations have their origins in the drama of identifications which we can see played out metaphorically and figuratively in literature, which presents the self-creative process in aesthetic terms. They argue that psychoanalysis is a true child of literature rather than merely the interpreter or explainer of literature, illustrating this with some examples from clinical experience, but drawing above all on close scrutiny of the dynamic mental processes presented in the work of Shakespeare, Milton, the Romantic poets, Emily Bronte and George Eliot. The Chamber of Maiden Thought will encourage psychoanalytic workers to respond to the influence of literature in exploring symbolic mental processes. By bringing psychoanalysis into creative conjunction with the arts, it enables practitioners to tap a cultural potential whose insights into the human mind are of immense value.

Literary Origins of the Psychoanalytic Model of the Mind

The Chamber of Maiden Thought (Psychology Revivals)

Contains information to help parents understand and interact with their 12 to 14 year old. Includes inforamtion on puberty, sexuality, school life, group dynamics, questions of identity, difficulties such as drinking, stealing, drugs and promiscuity, and family life.

Understanding 12-14-Year-Olds

Adolescence and adolescent states of mind have seldom captured so much attention publicly, nor have they stirred so much anxiety and disturbance privately. This long acknowledged, problematic, transitional world between childhood and adulthood is especially fraught, these days, with the assaults and pressures of contemporary culture and modern technology. The heart of the book lies in the exploration of the inner lives of these young people, whether or not they find their way to clinical services. It sets out to illuminate the sorts of things that go wrong, and how we can help to address them – the crises of identity, gender, loss, self-harm, bullying, depression, anger, suicidal impulses, anxiety, and so much more. On Adolescence: Inside Stories is intended for all those concerned with adolescence, and adolescent states of mind at whatever age or stage.

On Adolescence

Inside Lives belongs to the heart of the thinking and working of the Tavistock Clinic. Its aim is to bring psychoanalytic theory to life, to make it accessible to a much wider range of readers, both lay and professional, than would normally be familiar with this kind of approach. In the simplest of terms it tells the most complex of stories: the story of the internal development of a person from infancy to old age. In so doing, it reflects and encompasses the generational structure of the clinic as a whole, tracing the interacting influences - between infant, child, adolescent and adult - on the nature and quality of emotional growth and development.This book provides a perspective on the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and the nature of human development, which is not currently available in written form. Following the major developmental phases from infancy to old age, the author lucidly explores those vital aspects of experience, which promote mental and emotional growth and those which impede it.

Margot Waddell

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