There are more psychoanalytic theories today than anyone knows what to
do with, and the heterogeneity and complexity of the entire body of
psychoanalytic though have become staggering. In Relational Concepts
in Psychoanalysis, Stephen A. Mitchell weaves strands from the
principal relational-model traditions (interpersonal psychoanalysis,
British school object-relations theories, self psychology, and
existential psychoanalysis) into a comprehensive approach to many of
the knottiest problems and controversies in theoretical and clinical
psychoanalysis. Mitchell’s earlier book, Object Relations in
Psychoanalytic Theory, co-authored with Jay Greenberg, set the stage
for this current integration by providing a broad comparative analysis
of important thinking on the nature of human relationships. In that
classic study Greenberg and Mitchell distinguished between two basic
paradigms: the drive model, in which relations with others are
generated and shaped by the need for drive gratifications, and various
relational models, in which relations themselves are taken as primary
and irreducible. In Relational Concepts in Psychoanalysis, Mitchell
argues that the drive model has since outlived its usefulness. The
relational model, on the other hand, has been developed piecemeal by
different authors who rarely acknowledge and explore the commonality
of their assumptions or the rich complementarity of their
perspectives. In this bold effort at integrative theorizing, Mitchell
draws together major lines of relational-model traditions into a
unified framework for psychoanalytic thought, more economical than the
anachronistic drive model and more inclusive than any of the singular
relational approaches to the core significance of sexuality, the
impact of early experience, the relation of the past to the present,
the interpenetration of illusion and actuality, the centrality of the
will, the repetition of painful experience, the nature of analytic
situation, and the process of analytic change. As such, his book will
be required reading for psychoanalytic scholars, practitioners,
candidates in psychoanalysis, and students in the field.
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An Integration
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780674041158
Publisert
2021
Utgiver
Harvard University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter