Standing in the Spaces: Essays on Clinical Process, Trauma, and Dissociation

Book Description

Early in these essays, Bromberg contemplates how one might engage schizoid detachment within an interpersonal perspective. To his surprise, he finds that the road to the patient's disavowed experiences most frequently passes through the analyst's internal conversation, as multiple configurations of self-other interaction, previously dissociated, are set loose first in the analyst and then played out in the interpersonal field.

This insight leads to other discoveries. Beneath the dissociative structures seen in schizoid patients, and also in other personality disorders, Bromberg regularly finds traumatic experience -- even in patients not otherwise viewed as traumatized. This discovery allows interpersonal notions of psychic structure to emerge in a new light, as Bromberg arrives at the view that all severe character pathology masks dissociative defenses erected to ward off the internal experience of trauma and to keep the external world at bay to avoid retraumatization. These insights, in turn, open to a new understanding of dissociative processes as intrinsic to the therapeutic process per se. For Bromberg, it is the unanticipated eruption of the patient's relational world, with its push-pull impact on the analyst's effort to maintain a therapeutic stance, that makes possible the deepest and most therapeutically fruitful type of analytic experience.

Bromberg's essays are delightfully unpredictable, as they strive to keep the reader continually abreast of how words can and cannot capture the subtle shifts in relatedness that characterize the clinical process. Indeed, at times Bromberg's writing seems vividly to recreate the alternating states of mind of the relational analyst at work. Stirringly evocative in character and radiating clinical wisdom infused with compassion and wit, Standing in the Spaces is a classic destined to be read and reread by analysts and therapists for decades to come.

Customer Reviews:

Luminous and richly rewarding........2001-11-18

What a fascinating and remarkable book. Bromberg's subtlety, ingenuity and insight combine in -- how rare!--elegantly accessible prose to produce a book full of ideas. I found it luminous and richly rewarding.

A treasure of clinical insight.......2001-11-07

To read Bromberg is to be invited into the mind of one of the most sophisticated analytic clinicians writing today. His writings style wonderfully conveys the subtle, barely thinkable complexities of clinical process, those hardly noticeable contours of interpersonal meaning shaping the feel of a given moment in a session. Bromberg is able to put into words what all therapists have experienced but few have been able to describe. Although the more abstract theoretical components of his thinking are not quite as coherent as one might wish (a lot of model-mixing here) this flaw becomes almost insignificant in the face of the scintillating brilliance of Bromberg's clinical insight.

The Void: Inner Spaciousness and Ego Structure

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Outdated presentation....
For the seeker who is ready to get on with it.
Getting Specific

The Void: Inner Spaciousness and Ego Structure
A. H. Almaas
Manufacturer: Shambhala
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Mysticism | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Comparative Religion | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

The Pearl Beyond Price: Integration of Personality into Being, an Object Relations Approach (Diamond Mind)
Essence With the Elixir of Enlightenment: The Diamond Approach to Inner Realization
The Point of Existence: Transformations of Narcissism in Self-Realization (Diamond Mind Series, 3)
Diamond Heart, Book One: Elements of the Real in Man (The Diamond Heart Series , No 1)
Diamond Heart, Book Two: The Freedom to Be (The Diamond Heart Series , No 2)

ASIN: 0936713062
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Book Description

In this book Almaas brings together concepts and experiences drawn from contemporary object relations theory, Freudian-based ego psychology, case studies from his own spiritual practice, and teaching from the highest levels of Buddhist and other Eastern practices. He challenges us to look not only at the personality and the content of the mind, but also at the underlying nature of the mind itself.

Customer Reviews:

Outdated presentation...........2007-08-19

This book requires a fair degree of familiarity with formal psychology.
Also the book (like the other "diamond mind" books) seems to be laced with bathos.
People with a zen/buddhist background might want to start with part two ("the void and transformation").
Or better yet, go directly to the better written and more recent "Inner Journey Home".

For the seeker who is ready to get on with it........2005-09-14

You've read Freud, Jung, perhaps Teillard de Chardin, Aurobindo, J.G. Bennett, Idries Shah, and so on. The poetry of Rumi and Hafiz calls you to the 'beloved' 'like a broken man walking behind a farting camel'. You have done group and individual psychotherapy, yoga, zen and so on. You have attended workshops, prayed, found a 'right livelihood'. Travel is a genuine adventure. Something propels you to examine the mysteries of the perennial philosophy, it is just something you must do. Your appetite is voracious; you yearn for that 'missing piece'. The great novel that is your life is page turner you just cannot put down.

Almaas is one of the great teachers of the age, and this little book is a good place to meet him.

Getting Specific.......2004-11-21

So far I've read three of the Diamond Approach books: "Essence," "The Diamond Approach," and "Diamond Heart, Book One." For someone working alone, "The Void" is the most helpful because it is the most specific about techniques.

Conceptual Spaces: The Geometry of Thought (Bradford Books)

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Excellent and Enlightening
A little disappointing
An eye opener
A new model of thought
Excellent! Conceptual Spaces make sense to me.

Conceptual Spaces: The Geometry of Thought (Bradford Books)
Peter Gärdenfors
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Geometry and Meaning
Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Artificial Intelligence) (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Artificial Intelligence)
Knowledge Representation: Logical, Philosophical, and Computational Foundations: Logical, Philosophical, and Computational Foundations
What Is Thought? (Bradford Books)
Conceptual Mathematics: A First Introduction to Categories

ASIN: 0262572192

Book Description

Within cognitive science, two approaches currently dominate the problem of modeling representations. The symbolic approach views cognition as computation involving symbolic manipulation. Connectionism, a special case of associationism, models associations using artificial neuron networks. Peter Gardenfors offers his theory of conceptual representations as a bridge between the symbolic and connectionist approaches.

Symbolic representation is particularly weak at modeling concept learning, which is paramount for understanding many cognitive phenomena. Concept learning is closely tied to the notion of similarity, which is also poorly served by the symbolic approach. Gardenfors's theory of conceptual spaces presents a framework for representing information on the conceptual level. A conceptual space is built up from geometrical structures based on a number of quality dimensions. The main applications of the theory are on the constructive side of cognitive science: as a constructive model the theory can be applied to the development of artificial systems capable of solving cognitive tasks. Gardenfors also shows how conceptual spaces can serve as an explanatory framework for a number of empirical theories, in particular those concerning concept formation, induction, and semantics. His aim is to present a coherent research program that can be used as a basis for more detailed investigations.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent and Enlightening.......2004-07-29

Gardenfors introduces his theory of concept-formation, and at the same time presents a survey of the competing theories and research. He shows a high level of professionalism by accepting that the theories can coexist, presenting the competing theories in their strongest light and letting you decide where to apply each theory. This book is not only a good argument for why his theory deserves a permanent place in your toolbox, but also a good education for anyone wanting to know the tradeoffs in representing concepts -- especially for knowledge representation or machine learning systems. He presents the material in a very logical order so that the subtopics can be consumed individually. And although some of the material is well-known, each chapter presents a series of contrasting pros and cons and synthesizes the information in ways that are thought-provoking and novel. It was well worth the time and money.

A little disappointing.......2004-07-10

If one is to design a machine that can formulate concepts and engage in such things as inductive inference and its corollary scientific discovery, then one must be able to quantify the notion of a concept in such a way that it can be implemented into the cognitive structure of the machine. One must be able to distinguish one concept from another, be able to tell when one concept is similar to another, and understand in detail how concepts are related across domains. It would not be enough to have qualitative notions of these distinctions or similarities, since they must be able to be formatted in such a way, either via coding, language, or electronically, so as to be used by the machine.

This book gives an interesting approach to the problem of concept classification, but it does so only from a qualitative point of view. It is a good start in this regard, and readers will gain a lot of insight into the problems that it addresses. It does not however give any advice on how to implement its ideas into a real thinking machine. Mathematical concepts are brought in order to talk more meaningfully about spaces of concepts, but they are really restricted to metric spaces and not general enough to deal with the plethora of concepts that could present themselves in typical environments. The book should be considered more as a work in philosophy, so those interested in this field might enjoy the book more than those who were expecting a book more geared towards artificial intelligence and computer science. Those readers interested in automated theorem proving or automated mathematical discovery might find the discussion on geometric categorization models of interest, and will find an interesting application of Voronoi tessellations, namely that of accounting for the varying sizes of concepts in a categorization.

By far the most interesting chapter in the book is chapter 6, wherein the author gives a highly original discussion of inductive inference. The ability of human cognition to generalize from a limited number of observations is viewed (correctly) by the author as very impressive, but he is careful to note that inductive inference cannot be done free of side constraints. Quoting the philosopher J.S. Peirce and his evolutionary explanation of why induction is so effective, the author uses his theory of conceptual spaces to develop a theory of constraints for inductive inferences. The main notion in this theory is that of "projectability", which attempts to delineate the properties and concepts that are may be used in inductive inference. The author wants to arrive at a computational model of induction, and he offers interesting proposals for doing so, even if they lack immediate empirical justification.

Central to the problem of induction the author argues is how observations are to be represented. This has been neglected in the history of philosophy he says, and so he then proceeds to outline his ideas on how to represent observations, distinguishing three levels, namely the `symbolic', the `conceptual', and the `subconceptual.' At the symbolic level, observations are represented by describing them in a specified language. At the conceptual level, observations are characterized relative to a conceptual space. At this level induction is viewed as concept formation. At the subconceptual level observations are characterized by inputs from sensory receptors. Induction is then viewed as the attaining of connections between various inputs. The author views the processing taking place in artificial neural networks as an example of modeling at the subconceptual level.

The problem of induction is more complicated than is typically presented in the literature, the author argues. Inductive inference will look different depending on which approach to observations is taken. In his elaborations on the processes of induction, one of the key issues that arises is the how discovery takes place across different domains. The process of conceptualizing across different domains takes place, as expected, at the subconceptual and conceptual levels. The symbolic level is delegated to formulating laws.

An eye opener.......2003-08-12

For anyone interested in the cognitive topics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, this book is an eye opener. The point of view it presents attempts to put an order in what "meaning" really means.

Drawbacks of the book? The lack of conceptualization when it comes to dynamic concepts (treated very superficially). Also, the theory is deficient when modeling the functional aspects of concepts (a "sin" already recognized by the author).

But considering the pioneering character of this piece of art, these drawbacks are just compelling invitations for further research in the field.

A new model of thought.......2003-03-02

Profound piece of work. I am not a cognitive scientist, and this book is a bit technical, but it is still within reach of the motivated lay person.

Gardenfors puts forward a a model to explain cognition that he calls "conceptual spaces." These conceptual spaces are at a level of abstraction in between the symbolic (used by AI types) and connectionist (Neural Nets). But what makes his conceptual spaces interesting and plausible is the position he takes that in this conceptual space, most reasoning is done by evaluating the analog of a distance between two aspects of a perception. Or, we find things to be similar if they are "geometrically" (measurably) closer on some limited number of dimensional scales.

This is easy to follow for things like colors, but he doesn't stop there. He goes on to describe how this explains a wide variety of perceptions, as well as how we form and reform categories and concepts, and shows how this informs semantics and the process of induction.

My only criticism is that some of the illustratios would have been more powerful in color.

Excellent! Conceptual Spaces make sense to me........2001-12-03

The essence of conceptual spaces, as I understand it, is that we can define concepts as regions in conceptual spaces. A conceptual space is defined by axes representing qualities. For example, color spaces are conceptual spaces, as is the tasting combos of sweet, bitter, salty.

Your choice of qualitative measures deeply affects how you understand the world. 'Spose reality is an infinitely dimensional, then we have lots of choices for axes. We simplify and correlate by using all that coordinate transformation and axis projection stuff from 3D graphics! Heck Gardenfors even uses Delauney Triangulation (or polyhedralization).

Criterion P, page 71

A natural property is a convex region of a domain in a conceptual space.

Criterion C, page 105

A natural concept is represented as a set of regions in a number of domains together with an assignments of salience weights to the domains and information about how the regions in the different domains are correlated.

Concept Combination, page 122

The combination CD of two concepts C and D is determined by letting the regions for the domains of C, confined by D replace the values of the corresponding regions for D. (contrast class p. 119), for example the "stone lions" outside the NYC library.

Six Tenets of Cognitive Semantics, page 160

i) Meaning is a conceptual structure in a cognitive system (not truth conditions in possible worlds)
ii) Conceptual Structure are embodied (meaning is not independent of perception or of bodily experience).
iii) Semantic elements are constructed from geometrical or topological structures (not symbols that can be composed according to some system of rules).
iv) Cognitive models are primarily image-schematic (not propositional). Image-schemas are transformed by metaphoric and metonymic operations (which are treated as exceptional features on the traditional views).
v) Semantics is primary to syntax and partly determines it (syntax cannot be described independently of semantics).
vi) Concepts show prototype effects (instead of showing the Aristotelian paradigm based on necessary and sufficient conditions).

Process of Abstraction, page 191 - Start with a collection of things. Identify and quantify individual objects. The determine the clusters. Step three: abstract the clusters into dimensions. Simple!

Book Description

To generate coherent behaviour, the brain needs to attend selectively to the many objects that are present in the environment, but this poses several questions. How does the brain know which objects 'belong together'? How does the information from different senses get combined? How does this help to plan and carry out actions? The subject of attentional mechanisms has a long history in cognitive psychology, as it is the key to making sense of the visual world. However, new developments in cognitive neuroscience, and greater understanding of how attention and action are integrated, have transformed the field. This book is the first to bring together leading researchers to discuss the convergence of experimental findings in the following areas: Visual selective attention Attention and perceptual integration Spatial representation and attention Visual attention and action Control of attention Attention, Space, and Action provides a unique combination of perspectives that will appeal to students and researchers from psychology, neuropsychology, neurophysiology, and neuroanatomy.

Center of the Cyclone: Looking into Inner Space

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Altered States Of Being

Center of the Cyclone: Looking into Inner Space
John C. Lilly
Manufacturer: Ronin Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Neuropsychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Mysticism | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

The Scientist: A Metaphysical Autobiography
The Quiet Center: Isolation and Spirit
The Steersman: Metabeliefs and Self-Navigation
Programming the Human Biocomputer
Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You and Your World

ASIN: 1579510388

Book Description

In this long-out-of-print counterculture classic, Dr. John C. Lilly takes readers behind the scenes into the inner life of a scientist exploring inner space, or “far-out spaces,” as Lilly called them. The book explains how he derived his theory of the operations of the human mind and brain from his personal experiences and experiments in solitude, isolation, and confinement; LSD; and other methods of mystical experience. It also includes glimpses into Lilly's friendship with such 1960s' notables as Oscar Ichazo, Ram Dass, Timothy Leary, Albert Hofmann, Fritz Perls, and Claudio Narajo. Written for the non-specialist, Center of the Cyclone shows an important, modern thinker at his most personal and profound.

Customer Reviews:

Altered States Of Being.......2007-08-03

This is the story of Dr. John C. Lilly's move from dolphin research to "inner space" research. We read of the strange places we can go to in our head.

The first third of the book concentrates on Lilly's experiments with LSD. The relatively detailed first hand accounts of what a hallucinogenic trip can be like makes fascinating reading for those of us who have never experienced such a brain state. These chapters definitely made the book truly memorable for me and are written in a very engaging style that reveals Lilly's own enthusiasm for the material.

In the mid section Lilly describes his experiences at the Esalen Institute both as a participant and lecturer. This includes sessions with the Gestalt Therapist Fritz Perl and the psycho-masseuse Ida Rolfing. These were truly 'happening' experiences in the sixties, but may be more familiar to twenty first century readers.

The final third of the book covers Lilly's experiences with mystical, physical exercises in an esoteric "school" in Chile. Much time is devoted to describing different psychological "states" classified according to Gurdjeiff's system. I found this section of the book a chore to read, but the events and information were obviously very important to Lilly.

Crossmodal Space and Crossmodal Attention

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Crossmodal Space and Crossmodal Attention

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Consciousness & Thought | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Physiological Aspects | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

The Handbook of Multisensory Processes (Bradford Books)
The Merging of the Senses (Cognitive Neuroscience)

ASIN: 0198524862

Book Description

Many organisms possess multiple sensory systems, such as vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. The possession of such multiple ways of sensing the world offers many benefits. These benefits arise not only because each modality can sense different aspects of the environment, but also because different senses can respond jointly to the same external object or event, thus enriching the overall experience - for example, looking at an individual while listening to them speak. However, combining information from different senses also poses many challenges for the nervous system. In recent years there has been dramatic progress in understanding how information from different sensory modalities gets integrated in order to construct useful representations of external space; and in how such multimodal representations constrain spatial attention. Such progress has involved numerous different disciplines, including neurophysiology, experimental psychology, neurological work with brain-damaged patients, neuroimaging studies, and computational modelling. This volume brings together the leading researchers from all these approaches, to present the first integrative overview of this central topic in cognitive neuroscience.

Universals of Psychoanalysis in the Treatment of Psychotic and Borderline States: Factors of Space-Time and Language

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Universals of Psychoanalysis in the Treatment of Psychotic and Borderline States: Factors of Space-Time and Language
Henri Rey
Manufacturer: Free Association Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Clinical Psychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Psychoanalysis | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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The Space Between Us: Exploring the Dimensions of Human Relationships

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A once yearly read
Great Book
An under-recognized gem!

The Space Between Us: Exploring the Dimensions of Human Relationships
Ruthellen Josselson
Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Interpersonal Relations | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Compulsive Behavior | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Social Psychology & Interactions | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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A Perilous Calling: The Hazards of Psychotherapy Practice

ASIN: 0761901264
Release Date: 1995-08-16

Book Description

"The best book on interpersonal relationships to appear in many years. Deeply insightful. Written with lucidity and grace." --Irvin D. Yalom, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine "Rather than merely giving advice on how to improve a marriage or other romantic attachment, psychologist Ruthellen Josselson explores eight types of relationships, from the deeply intimate to the very casual. Although some people may be most adept at one type of interaction, all such relationships are important to our growth as caring human beings, she states. Each chapter closes with a short life history of a person interviewed by the author, with particular attention paid to how the type of relationship discussed shaped that person. Visual diagrams chart these men's and women's relationships throughout their lives. Additional chapters cover how the sexes differ in the way they relate to others and the various forms that love can take. Deep and insightful, this should prove important to professional therapists as well as to those seeking a better understanding of human nature." --Publishers Weekly "Ruthellen Josselson has written this informative and engaging book to examine the 'web of connections to others' within which people 'create their lives.' . . . Josselson writes well, using many visual and spatial images. At times her writing is poetic. . . . The Space Between Us is accessible and easy to follow, in part because of Josselson's effective use of illustrative material. The book provides a good introduction to relational concepts for students or a general audience. More sophisticated readers can use it as a review and will appreciate Josselson's synthesis, new ideas, and illustrations. . . . This book is a valuable contribution to the development of a theory of relatedness that can take its place alongside a theory of autonomy. As such, the book resonates with and offers a corrective to recent critiques of individualism in American culture and in the psychotherapeutic enterprise. Clinical social workers, with their longstanding interest in person-environment transactions, will find this a particularly desirable corrective. . . . Josselson's explication of the many dimensions of 'the space between us' enriches us all." --Carol R. Swenson in Families in Society "In spite of the academic orientation of the book, it is written with great simplicity and personal voice. Understanding why we need meaningful relationships and how we can develop and nurture these relationships is an extremely important issue that teachers can share with today's students." --Emogene Fox, review in FLEducator Adult relationships define us, yet they evade realistic definition. The Space Between Us goes beyond the usual study of problem relationships to present a positive view of the human connections that form our social existence. Integrating psychological theories with rich experience, Ruthellen Josselson examines the nature and types of these relationships and develops eight dimensions of relatedness ranging from the very casual to the deeply intimate. Personal interviews animate and visual diagrams chart specific types of relationships throughout the life span. Additional chapters contemplate how the sexes differ in communication styles and the various forms that love can take. Written with great simplicity and in an engaging style, yet grounded in theory and method, this volume will appeal to a broad readership, including academics in social psychology and relationship studies, counseling and mental health professionals, and anyone interested in understanding relationships in life-span and cultural perspective.

Customer Reviews:

A once yearly read.......2007-09-13

This book finally gives us a language to describe our relationships and to understand their depths. I've recommended this to so many people and I continue to have it in my yearly read stack(which only includes a few other titles).

Great Book.......2007-05-12

This is a great book for sorting the different possible relationship types. The author does a good job of writing a book on relationship that is easy to read and requires no prior knowledge of psychology at all. I recommend this to anyone who would like to raise their awareness of the ways that their relationships with other people affect them.

An under-recognized gem!.......2006-02-20

This book covers and integrates object relations theory and feminist theory. It offers a serious, in-depth, and often inspiring look at how people relate to each other and why it is so difficult to talk about this subject in our culture. I hightly recommend it!

The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking

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The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Cognitive Psychology | Behavioral Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0521001730

Book Description

Visuospatial thinking encompasses a wide range of thinking processes concerning space, whether it be navigating across town, understanding multimedia displays, reading an architectural blueprint or a map. Understanding it and in particular, how people represent and process visual and spatial information, is relevant not only to cognitive psychology but also education, geography, architecture, medicine, design, computer science/artificial intelligence, semiotics and animal cognition. This book presents a broad overview of research that can be applied to basic theoretical and applied/naturalistic contexts.

Transitional Objects and Potential Spaces: Literary Uses of D. W. Winnicott (Psychoanalysis and Culture)

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A "Good-Enough" Psychoanalytic Account of Aesthetics

Transitional Objects and Potential Spaces: Literary Uses of D. W. Winnicott (Psychoanalysis and Culture)

Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Psychoanalysis | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Playing and Reality (Routledge Classics)
Winnicott On the Child
Art, Creativity, Living (Winnicott Studies Monograph Series)
Holding and Interpretation: Fragment of an Analysis
Play and Reflection in Donald Winnicotts Writings (Winnicott Clinic Lecture Series)

ASIN: 0231075731

Customer Reviews:

A "Good-Enough" Psychoanalytic Account of Aesthetics.......2001-07-07

Editor Peter L. Rudnytsky has put together a very useful and (for the most part) readable collection of 16 essays for students of literature, psychotherapy, theology, or the intersection of all those disciplines. As a former student of English literature, a current preacher, and a doctoral candidate in psychology and religion interested in the therapeutic uses of popular culture, I have found this volume extremely helpful.

Rudnytsky's Introduction begins by noting that Winnicott has been largely overlooked by literary scholars -- a neglect which is "all the more surprising since Independent object relations theory can claim to offer the first satisfactory psychoanalytic account of aesthetics." (p. xii) He then proceeds to provide a definition of that "aesthetics" utilizing three of Winnicott's best-known concepts: transitional objects, potential spaces, and the use of an object. Since the editor goes on to describe the particular contributions of each of the essays which follow (not all of which are as readily accessible as Winnicott's own writing), a careful reading of this Introduction will be amply rewarded.

The first section, "The Analytic Frame", begins with Winnicott's own reflections on "The Location of Cultural Experience" (from PLAYING & REALITY) and includes a particularly useful (to my areas of interest) essay by Christopher Bollas on "The Aesthetic Moment and the Search for Transformation." Part II, "Literary Objects", focuses on six interpretations of particular authors or works, and Part III concludes with four essays applying Winnicott to various "Cultural Fields" (including Brooke Hopkins' "Jesus and Object-Use"). At least two of the essays (by John Turner and Claire Kahane) critique Winnicott's theory for lack of attention to the social, economic, and political relations which shape subjectivity and perpetuate injustice, or the ways in which culture's prevailing symbolic network of representations are constructed according to the norms of a masculine subject. These more critical voices contribute to a well-balanced collection. Whether you've read a lot of Winnicott, or have only begun to study his theories, this book is well worth having and reading.

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