Being and Contemporary Psychoanalysis: Antinomies of the Object, Di Liberto Yuri

The clinical examples provided here demonstrate contemporary psychoanalytic techniques that uncover meanings that are both fresh　and　enlightening, 　and address heterosexuality, homosexuality,　gender,　and perversion　from a psychoanalytic perspective. Divided into four parts,　the book includes the following:

Historical context

Foundational concepts: Contemporary elaborations

Homosexuality

Perversion revisited

Throughout　Sexualities: Contemporary Psychoanalytic Perspectives　the reader will find psychoanalytic wisdom that is transferrable to work with patients of all sexualities, and will see that the essentials of sexuality may be more similar than they are different for homo- and hetero-sexuality. 　Psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists, as well as academics interested in the　subjects　of psychoanalysis, gender, sexuality, or homosexuality will find this book an invaluable resource.

Alessandra Lemma, 　PhD is Director of the Psychological Therapies Development Unit at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. She is a Fellow of the British Psychoanalytic Society and Visiting Professor in the Psychoanalysis Unit, University College London. She is a Consultant Adult Psychotherapist at the Portman Clinic where she specializes in working with transsexuals. She has published extensively on psychoanalysis, the body and trauma.

Paul E. Lynch, MD is on the faculty of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis, and the China American Psychoanalytic Alliance.　 He teaches about psychoanalysis, gender, and sexuality, and has been a popular speaker on issues of homosexuality and psychoanalysis. 　　He is also a Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry at the Tufts University School of Medicine.

Field theory is a family of related bi-personal psychoanalytic perspectives falling into three principal models, which developed relatively independently. One of the principal models is based upon the work of Madeleine and Willy Baranger. The second, constructed by Katz, draws upon what is held in common by the implicit field theories in the United States of the interpersonal, intersubjective, relational and motivational systems' psychoanalytic perspectives. The third is based upon the work of Antonino Ferro. For each, Katz elucidates its conception of mind, unconscious processes, the specific field concept employed, therapeutic goals, and clinical techniques. Similarities and differences of the models are illustrated.　　　　　

In the book, a fabricated analytic process is offered in which an analysand, Zoe, is engaged in three analyses. Each analyst works with the techniques of one of the three field theories. Katz conveys the diverging thought processes and technical choices of each analyst and the potentially different therapeutic outcomes of the application of each model.　 In the final chapters, Katz moves beyond the specific field theories to articulate a concept of a general field which underlies the three field concepts. She explores how to use this generalized field to find a form of common ground amongst the field theories, conjecturing that this generalized concept has application beyond field theory to a greater range of psychoanalytic perspectives.　

Contemporary Psychoanalytic Field Theory provides a clear and comprehensive guide that will appeal to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, mental health professionals and clinicians, as well as philosophers, psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists.

Introduction to Contemporary Psychoanalysis seeks to make this rich wealth of information more accessible to clinicians and trainees. Psychoanalytic clinicians from various schools here describe the key ideas that underlie their particular perspective, helping the reader to see how they apply those ideas in their clinical work. Inviting the contributors to speak about their actual practice, rather than merely providing an overview, this book helps the reader to see common threads that run across perspectives, but also to recognize ways in which the different lenses from each of the perspectives inform interventions Through brief vignettes, the reader is offered an experience-near sense of what it might be like to apply those ideas in their own work. Each contributor also notes the limits or weaknesses of their particular theory, inviting the reader to consider the broader spectrum of these diverse offerings so that the benefits of each might be more visible.

Introduction to Contemporary Psychoanalysis offers the reader the richness and diversity of psychoanalytic theory and technique, so that the advantages of each particular lens might be visible and accessible as a further tool in their clinical work. This novel, comparative work will be an essential text for any psychoanalyst or psychoanalytically-inclined therapist in training, as well as clinicians and those who teach psychoanalytic theory and technique.

Field theory is a family of related bi-personal psychoanalytic perspectives falling into three principal models, which developed relatively independently. One of the principal models is based upon the work of Madeleine and Willy Baranger. The second, constructed by Katz, draws upon what is held in common by the implicit field theories in the United States of the interpersonal, intersubjective, relational and motivational systems' psychoanalytic perspectives. The third is based upon the work of Antonino Ferro. For each, Katz elucidates its conception of mind, unconscious processes, the specific field concept employed, therapeutic goals, and clinical techniques. Similarities and differences of the models are illustrated.

In the book, a fabricated analytic process is offered in which an analysand, Zoe, is engaged in three analyses. Each analyst works with the techniques of one of the three field theories. Katz conveys the diverging thought processes and technical choices of each analyst and the potentially different therapeutic outcomes of the application of each model.? In the final chapters, Katz moves beyond the specific field theories to articulate a concept of a general field which underlies the three field concepts. She explores how to use this generalized field to find a form of common ground amongst the field theories, conjecturing that this generalized concept has application beyond field theory to a greater range of psychoanalytic perspectives.?

Contemporary Psychoanalytic Field Theory provides a clear and comprehensive guide that will appeal to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, mental health professionals and clinicians, as well as philosophers, psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists.

Sukhanova and Thomashoff bring together contributions from psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychiatrists and scholars in the fields of the social sciences and the humanities to explore representations of the body in literature and the arts across different times and cultures. The chapters analyse the social construction of the 'ideal' body in terms of beauty, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class and disability, from a broadly psychoanalytic perspective, and traces the mechanisms which define the role of the physical appearance in the formation of identity and the assumption of social roles.

Body Image and Identity in Contemporary Societies' unique interdisciplinary outlook aims to bridge the current gap between clinical observations and research in semiotic theory. It will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, art therapists, art theorists, academics in the humanities and social sciences, and those interested in an interdisciplinary approach to the issues of body image and identity.

Ekaterina Sukhanova is University Director of Academic Program Review at the City University of New York USA. She serves as Scientific Secretary of the Section for Art and Psychiatry and the Section of Art and Psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association. She is also engaged in interdisciplinary research on cultural constructs of mental health and illness and curates exhibits of art brut as a vehicle for fighting stigma.

Hans-Otto Thomashoff was born in Germany and lives in Vienna.　 He is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, art historian and author of fiction and non-fiction books.　 He has been curator of several art exhibitions highlighting the connection between the psyche and art as well as president of the section of Art and Psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association and advisory committee member of the Sigmund Freud Foundation, Vienna.

The key concepts and issues explored in this book include:

• Are transference interpretations necessary for positive therapeutic outcomes?
• Are the analyst's countertransference reactions a reliable guide to the patient's unconscious mental states?
• Is projective identification a coherent concept?
• Psychoanalytic styles of thinking and writing.

Unlike other previous discussions of such concepts, this book systematically evaluates them in the light of conceptual critique as well as recent research-based evidence and empirical data.

Written with Eagle's piercing clarity of voice, Core Concepts in Contemporary Psychoanalysis challenges previously unquestioned psychoanalytic assumptions and will appeal to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, and anyone interested in integrating core psychoanalytic concepts, research, and theory with other disciplines including psychiatry, psychology, and social work.