LOVING THE PATIENT AS THE BASIS FOR TREATMENT

The author’s conviction is that a successful treatment is based on feelings of love by the therapist/analyst toward his or her patients. One should differentiate between love that is based on biological erotic-sexual drives and emotional love without erotic biological drive. The treatment process, especially for severely disturbed personalities, should be regarded as a process of new birth and new kind of development. Thus what the patient needs most is a kind of parental “primary love” (according to Balint). This paper presents a full report of a session through which the basic love to the patient is illustrated as enabling the treatment.Yecheskiel Cohen, Ph.D., is a member of the Israeli Psychoanalytic Society and the International Psychoanalytic Association.A version of this paper was presented at a conference of the Israel Psychoanalytic Society, May 2004.     

THE LONG-TERM MARRIAGE:

No abstract available for this article.     

MARRIAGE AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

This study examined gender differences in the configuration of components of intimacy in marriage and in the relationship of marriage to depression in a community sample of 260 men and women. We hypothesized that women's report of marital intimacy would include a distinct self-disclosure component, whereas this would be part of companionship in men's report of intimacy. Also, using self-in-relation theory, we hypothesized that self-esteem level would mediate the relationship between marital quality and depression for women but would moderate this relationship for men. Both predictions were upheld, suggesting a need to reformulate current models of the role of marital quality in depression to better capture the influence of gender.     

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS FOR STUDYING FEMALE MARRIAGE MIGRANTS

Transnational marriages account for a significant proportion of family-based immigration to North America. An increasing number of immigrant men are choosing to marry women from their countries of origin, and an increasing number of nonimmigrant men are choosing to marry women from other countries. Existing studies on the experiences of foreign brides entering North America have highlighted their vulnerability to spousal maltreatment, including unique forms of immigration abuse (e.g., threats of deportation). Their vulnerability to maltreatment has been attributed to the gender-insensitive nature of family immigration policies, the women's lack of awareness of their rights and immigration status, and their husbands' cultural beliefs about women's roles. This article describes three interrelated theoretical frameworks that can inform further research, practice, and policy development related to female marriage migrants. The frameworks draw on cross-cultural models of gender-based violence, seminal work on the psychology of women, and international human rights research.     

LOVING THEM TO DEATH: THE ANOREXIC AND HER OBJECTS

The author suggests that eating disorders function to reinforce phantasies of control of the internal parents, a feature of Klein's view of the manic defence. Using this hypothesis, she attempts to differentiate between anorexia and bulimia. It is argued that in anorexia objects are felt to be permanently in thrall, suspended or frozen, whereas in bulimia they are attacked in a frenzied and intermittent way. Using case material from three seriously ill patients, the author draws attention to some important differences between them. Two of the patients were treated in psychoanalysis, while the third was seen for an extended consultation and once-weekly treatment thereafter. It is suggested that the nature and degree of the murderous attack on the internal couple may determine the severity of the illness as well as the patient's capacity to benefit from treatment. The conclusions drawn are discussed in relation to some contemporary views on eating disorders as well as writings on the difficulties of working through the Oedipus complex more generally. The author suggests that eating disorders may represent a special case of oedipal illusions.     

MENTAL FREEDOM AND FREEDOM OF THE LOVING HEART: FREE WILL AND BUDDHIST MEDITATION

In Buddhism, Meditation and Free Will: A Theory of Mental Freedom, Rick Repetti explains how the dynamics of Buddhist meditation can result in a kind of metacognition and metavolitional control that exceeds what is required for free will and defeats the most powerful forms of free will skepticism. This article argues that although the Buddhist path requires and enhances the kind of mental and volitional control Repetti describes, the central dynamic of the path and meditation is better understood as a process of habituation. This not only involves the dis-identification from mental and emotional content that Repetti discusses—and is commonly emphasized in modern presentations of mindfulness or insight (vipassanā) meditation—but also a transformation of the heart that is effected through the complementary psychological and somatic qualities associated with calm abiding (samatha) and concentration (samādhi) and emphasized in the Pali Nikāyas and commentaries.     

JEWISH QUESTIONS AND THE CONTESTED NATION: ON MAJOR HUNGARIAN DEBATES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

In the nineteenth century, the Kingdom of Hungary was a multidenominational society without a clear ethnic majority that had one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. The Kingdom was a constituent part of the Habsburg Empire with significant levels of autonomy that emerged as a nationalizing state upon the Compromise of 1867. How did the public contest over the legal standing and societal role of the Jews develop in such a special environment? How were major debates on Jewish matters related to the redefinitions of the Hungarian nation? Was there a specific “Jewish question” with a dynamic of its own in the nineteenth century or were such debates embedded in broader discussions? To answer these questions, this paper will discuss the three most important Hungarian debates of the epoch, namely those of the 1840s, 1860s and 1890s. Drawing on a growing body of secondary literature particularly in Hungarian, it aims to offer an overall interpretation of the Hungarian Jewish move towards emancipation and therefore will fill a significant gap in the scholarly literature of the period.