Correspondence

Response to Chess Denman's review of Green, André and Stern, Daniel's Clinical and Observational Psychoanalytical Research: Roots of a Controversy. ( JAP , 46, 3)     

Internet Discussion Forum Summary

Article Discussed in this forum:
'Memories, fantasies, archetypes: an exploration of some connections between cognitive science and analytical psychology' by Jean M. Knox ( JAP , October 2001, 46:4)     

Diversity of learning psychoanalysis and analytical psychology

As the subject of this Conference is 'Diversity and its Limits: New Directions in Analytical Psychology and Psychoanalysis', I would like to investigate some aspects of education at our Institute--the East European Institute of Psychoanalysis--from the point of view of the meeting of West and East. I will look at the influence of this diversity on the formation and development of psychoanalysis and analytical psychology in Russia.     

Book reviews

Current research on medically unexplained somatic symptoms (MUSS) shows a renewed interest in psychodynamic approaches. Patients with MUSS lack the capacity to mentalize about their feelings. They have an attachment history characterized by insecure attachment relationships. They have a personality trait that can be best described as self-critical perfectionism. Their insecure early attachment relations have had a negative impact on the development of their stress regulatory system. Staff of Psychotherapeutisch Dagcentrum, affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry of a general hospital in Tilburg, found dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT) a suitable treatment model for the treatment program that was run for patients with MUSS. DIT was developed by Lemma, Fonagy, and Target in the UK for the individual treatment of patients suffering from depression. Subsequently, a variant of DIT was developed in order to make it suitable for application in a multidisciplinary group setting.     

Book reviews

Ulanov, Ann & Barry., Transforming Sexuality. The Archetypal World of Anima and Animus.
Ulanov, Ann Belford., The Functioning Transcendent: A Study in Analytical Psychology.
Von Franz, Marie-Louise., Archetypische Dimensionen der Seele. [Archetypal Dimensions of the Soul.]
Stevens, Anthony & Price, John., Evolutionary Psychiatry: A New Beginning.
Field, Nathan., Breakdown and Breakthrough: Psychotherapy in a New Dimension.
Tacey, David J., Remaking Men: Jung, Spirituality and Social Change.
Lopez-Pedraza, Rafael., Anselm Kiefer: 'After the Catastrophe'.
Diamond, Stephen A., Anger, Madness and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil and Creativity.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Dale Mathers, An Introduction to Meaning and Purpose in Analytical Psychology
Jane Cabot Reid (ed. & narrator), Jung, My Mother, and I: The Analytic Diaries of Catharine Rush Cabot
Heather Formaini (compiler), Landmarks. Papers by Jungian Analysts from Australia and New Zealand
Neil Russack, Animal Guides in Life, Myth and Dreams: An Analyst's Notebook
Rose–Emily Rothenberg, The Jewel in the Wound
Judith Edwards (ed.), Being Alive, Building on the Work of Anne Alvarez     

Book reviews

This paper begins with a critical evaluation of British counselling psychology's aspirations for a scientific basis and considers some of the consequences in terms of theoretical assumptions and research practice. Through identifying certain empirical, theoretical and ideological problems inherent in the dominant tradition of quantifying inferred cognitive constructs (using the example of trainee self-talk), an alternative framework of discursive psychology is simultaneously introduced. the argument is made for a discursive study of storied meanings by trainee counselling psychologists about themselves and their work. This would potentially address two pivotal research areas. First, it affords both a personal and yet socially embedded framework for an increased understanding and more sensitive evaluation of the training process (with its acquisition of skills, knowledge, experience, competencies, etc.). Second, it offers an alternative approach to the problematic area of understanding unique and generic interactions between practitioners and their preferred psychological model(s) of therapy, thus challenging the theoretical and research cul-de-sac of competing modernist visions of purism, eclecticism and integration. Extending from these observations two research possibilities are suggested.     

Book reviews

Two experiments were conducted with US college students to determine whether affective states influence cross-cultural empathy. Participants read about a target who experienced distress and assumed a perspective that was consistent or inconsistent with US norms. When evaluating targets with a dissimilar (versus similar) cultural perspective, participants in neutral affect (Experiments 1 and 2) or negative affect (Experiment 2) conditions exhibited less perspective taking and emotional empathy. However, those differences were not observed for participants in a positive affect condition. Indeed, students in the positive (versus neutral or negative) affect condition exhibited greater perspective taking and feelings of compassion and sympathy for the dissimilar target. Results support (Fredrickson, B.L. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Review of General Psychology, 2, 300–319; Fredrickson, B.L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden and build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226) broaden and build theory, suggesting positive affect promotes open-minded, flexible thinking and builds social resources.     

Book reviews

Abstract

Eldercare by James Kenny&;Stephen Spicer. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1988, 152 pages, $11.95 paper

Lonely All the Time: Recognizing, Understanding and Overcoming Sex Addiction, for Addicts and Co-dependents by Ralph Earle&;Gregory Crow with Kevin Osborn. New York: Pocket Books, 1989, 337 pages, $19.95

The Imperfect Therapist: Learning from Failure in Therapeutic Practice by Jeffrey A. Kotter&;Diane S. Blau. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1989, 188 pages, $19.95

Families with a Difference: Varieties of Surrogate Parenthood by Michael Humphreys&;Heather Humphreys. New York: Routledge, 1988, 177 pages, $45.00

Between Husbands and Wives: Communication in Marriage by Mary Anne Fitzpatrick. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1988, 283 pages, $35.00 hardbound, $16.50 paperback     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Hauke, Christopher Jung and the Postmodern. The Interpretation of Realities.
Covitz, Joel Visions in the Night: Jungian and Ancient Dream Interpretation.
Ferro, Antonino The Bi-Personal Field. Experiences in Child Analysis.
Keve, Tom Triad: the physicists, the analysts, the kabbalists.
Segal, Robert A. (ed.). Hero Myths: A Reader.
Green, André & Stern, Daniel Clinical and Observational Psychoanalytic Research: Roots of a Controversy.
Singer, Thomas (ed.). The Vision Thing: Myth, Politics and Psyche in the World.     

Book reviews

Shamdasani, Sonu. Cult Fictions: C. G. Jung and the Founding of Analytical Psychology
Shamdasani, Sonu. Cult Fictions: C.G. Jung and the Founding of Analytical Psychology
Sandner, Donald F. & Wong, Steven H. (eds.). The Sacred Heritage: The Influence of Shamanism on Analytical Psychology
Bion, W. R. War Memoirs 1917–1919
Mitrani, Theodore, Mitrani, Judith et al. (eds.). Encounters with Autistic States
Spensley, Sheila. Frances Tustin
Symington, Neville. The Making of a Psychotherapist.
Killick, Katherine & Schaverien, Joy (eds.). Art, Psychotherapy and Psychosis.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Zoja, E. P. Transl. by Henry Martin. Abortion: Loss and Renewal in the Search for Identity.
Bomford, Rodney. The Symmetry of God.
Fisher, James. The Uninvited Guest. Emerging from Narcissism towards Marriage.
Rutzky, Jacques. Coyote Speaks: Creative Strategies for Psychotherapists Treating Alcoholics and Addicts.     

Book reviews

Kast, Verena. Father-Daughter, Mother-Son: Freeing Ourselves from the Complexes that Bind Us
Edinger, Edward F. Melville's Moby-Dick: An American Nekyia
Edinger, Edward F. The New God Image: A Study of Jung's Key Letters Concerning the Evolution of the Western God Image
Dreifuss, Gustav & Riemer, Judith. Abraham, The Man and the Symbol
Storr, Anthony. Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus
Taylor, Eugene. William James on Consciousness Beyond the Margin
Shulman, Helene. Living at the Edge of Chaos: Complex Systems in Culture and Psyche     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Gaillard, Christian. Le Musée Imaginaire de Carl Gustav Jung.
Young-Eisendrath, Polly & Dawson, Terence (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Jung.
Stevens, Anthony. Ariadne's Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind.
Stein, Murray. Transformation: Emergence of the Self.
Stein, Murray. Jung's Map of the Soul: An Introduction.
Christopher, Shelley (ed.). Contemporary Perspectives on Psychotherapy and Homosexualities.
Marlan, Stanton (ed.). Fire in the Stone: The Alchemy of Desire.     

Book reviews

D. E. M. Gardner: Susan Isaacs: A First Biography. Methuen Educational Ltd., 1972. Price £1.50.

Marion Milner: On Not Being Able to Paint. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., London, 1971. Price 90p

Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins: Therapy in Music for Handicapped Children, with a foreword by Benjamin Britten. Victor Gollancz, London, 1971. Price £1.80.

The Mental Health Book Review Index: an Annual Bibliography of Books and Book Reviews in the Behavioural Sciences, Vol. 17, 1972, XXVI. Price $10.00. Published by the Council on Research in Bibliography, Inc., c/o Research Center for Mental Health, New York University, New York, N.Y. 10003. (Address orders to: Mental Health Book Review Index, c/o Paul Klapper Library, Queens College of the City University of New York, Flushing, New York 11367, U.S.A.)     

Book reviews

Wilfred Bion is regarded as a psychoanalytic purist and his austere portrayal of the analytic aim and attitude is often considered to make impossible demands on patient and analyst alike. Not surprisingly, the applicability of Bion's theory and recommended practice to once-weekly psychotherapeutic work is often questioned. Bion is thus ambivalently regarded by psychotherapists as the embodiment of an analytic ideal, whose developmental theories are important, but whose practical utility is doubted, especially in the context of the typical therapeutic setting. This paper seeks to challenge these assumptions by presenting the once-weekly therapy of a woman with attenuated mentalizing capacity and a tendency to destructive acting out. The therapy was guided by the application of central concepts, models and ‘technical’ principles emerging from my understanding of Bion's work. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that Bion's utility is not confined to formal psychoanalytic settings and that his work may be usefully applied in more modest psychotherapy contexts.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Jones, J. D. F., Storyteller. The Many Lives of Laurens van der Post.
Fonagy, Peter, Attachment Theory and Psychoanalysis.
Hedges, Lawrence E, Terrifying Transferences. Aftershocks of Childhood Trauma.
Fordham, Michael, The Making of an Analyst. A Memoir.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Kalsched, Donald, The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit.
Von Franz, Marie-Louise. The Cat: A Tale of Feminine Redemption.
Vedfelt, Ole, The Dimensions of Dreams: The Nature, Function, and Interpretation of Dreams.
Spiegelman, J. M, Psychology and Religion at the Millennium and Beyond.
Waddell, Margot, Inside Lives, Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Kirsch, Thomas B., The Jungians: A Comparative and Historical Perspective
Perera, Sylvia Brinton, Queen Maeve and Her Lovers.
Fonagy, Peter; Cooper, Arnold, Wallerstein, M. & Robert, S., (eds.) Psychoanalysis on the Move. The work of Joseph Sandler
Green, Andre, The Fabric of Affect in the Psychoanalytic Discourse,
Johnson, S. & Ruszcynski, S., (eds.) Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the Independent Tradition
Vaidyanathan, T. G. & Kripal, J. J., (eds.) Vishnu on Freud's Desk – A Reader in Psychoanalysis and Hinduism.