Refine
Language
- English (279) (remove)
Document Type
- Articles (248)
- Books (27)
- Forewords (2)
- Event Reports (1)
- Reviews (1)
This study presents an overview of the development of the main psychoanalytic conceptions regarding safety, an aspect that has received increasing attention within the psychoanalytic literature. After describing the hypotheses of Sigmund Freud, Joseph Sandler, John Bowlby, and Harry Stack Sullivan, the study focuses on the ideas proposed by Joseph Weiss and on control-mastery theory (CMT), a cognitive-dynamic relational theory of mental functioning, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. Unlike other models, CMT stresses that human beings need to feel that both themselves and the people they love are safe; each person, however, may need something different to feel safe. Two clinical vignettes are used to illustrate how the therapist can understand, from the outset of the therapeutic process, how to help the patient feel safe, stressing the case-specific nature of the conditions of safety.
This chapter introduces a psychosocial strand of thinking that offers a way to conceive of creative relations between the psyche and the world. Whereas much current psychosocial theory stresses how anxieties are managed by defending the self against the world or fuel subjection to oppressive social norms, the theories we engage with here point to ways in which anxieties can be employed in the urge to bridge inner longings and external realities. These ideas took form in the early Frankfurt School, which despite their comprehensive integration of psychoanalytic and social theory until recently has been comparatively marginalized in Anglophone Psychosocial Theory.– The chapter presents and discusses three notions: Erich Fromm’s Freedom, Hans Loewald’s Resonance, and Alfred Lorenzer’s Interaction. Even though different in emphasis and outlook, these notions contribute to a shared intellectual project, namely, to point to potentially productive and non-antagonist interactions between the psyche and society. They do so not by virtue of some resistant part of unspoiled nature residing in the body or in the mind, but by virtue of being able to point to the more or less life-enhancing and life-impeding forms this interaction of psychic energies and societal needs may take.– We argue that these theorists and their notions of freedom, resonance and interaction, contribute to further developing the materialist conception of the psychosocial in ways that appear specifically urgent today. They enable us to theorize tensions within current society, between dynamics that drive instrumentalization and reification on the one hand, and more life-enhancing and mutually enriching interactions between human beings, social structures, and natural environments on the other.
On Fromm's Virtue Ethics
(2023)
Fromm’s ethics can be viewed as a form of virtue ethics, which emphasizes the importance of developing one’s true self and reducing one's false self. By doing so, one can change their psychological state in terms of character and psychological tendencies, leading to an improved moral life and higher moral standards. While some criticisms have been raised about virtue theory, including its perceived inability to guide one on how to act properly, Fromm's virtue ethics is unique in that it does not focus on establishing universal rules for specific actions. Instead, it seeks to establish universal laws for human behavioural tendencies or trends. Through his unique social psychology, Fromm provides an in-depth analysis of the inner world of man, which can serve as a valuable guide to the general direction of human development and freedom. In addition, Fromm’s virtue ethics also highlights the importance of social relationships and the impact they have on our moral development. He argues that our relationships with others can have a profound effect on our psychological state and our ability to live virtuously. Overall, Fromm’s virtue ethics provides a unique perspective on human development and morality. By focusing on the development of one’s true self and the importance of social relationships, his approach offers a valuable guide to living a fulfilling and virtuous life.
The aim of this paper is to give the reader an overview of several theoretical, empirical, and clinical features of survivor guilt, and to integrate recent contributions of psychodynamic theory and, in particular, of control-mastery theory into the understanding of the concept alongside the latest findings in social psychology about it. After introducing the concept of survivor guilt and its origins in clinical observations on the consequences of having survived severe traumas (e.g., internment in concentration camps), we will discuss the findings in social psychology on the concept of survivor guilt in everyday social interactions, which is based on a conception that does not connect it strictly to severe traumas. We will then focus our attention on clinical observations and empirical research studies about survivor guilt, discussing the hypotheses developed by several control-mastery theorists about its role in psychopathology. Finally, we will illustrate some manifestations of survivor guilt with a brief clinical vignette.
Some people diagnosed with schizophrenia show an alteration of the sense of self. From a psychodynamic perspective, it has been hypothesized they have disorders of the integration of self/other identification/differentiation processes. From a neuroscientific view some with this diagnosis present dysfunctions in neural correlates of representation of self from other (the implicit sensorimotor-based bodily self), and self united with other. In >Sense of self and psychosis, part 1< we discussed scientific literature offering empirical evidence for the psychodynamic clinical observations that patients with diagnoses of psychoses didn’t receive adequate early infancy parental care and sufficient affective-sensorial/tactile interactions. Introducing parental care/cutaneous interactions seemed relevant in the analytic treatment of psychoses, as the pioneers of the psychoanalytic approach to psychosis suggested. From this theoretical basis we developed amniotic therapy, which reproduces the affective-tactile interactions of early infancy, insufficient in cases of psychosis, and aims at integrating the processes of differentiation and identification. We present a single case study of an experimental intervention plan including amniotic therapy. Results showed increases in interoception and global functioning, with significant decreases in positive symptoms suggesting that amniotic therapy contributes to increasing the protective strength of self-boundaries and integration of identification/differentiation processes.
We will describe in two articles (>Sense of self and psychosis<, 1 and 2) the theoretical basis and the methodology of a new therapeutic group approach called amniotic therapy, which aims to improve the sense of self of psychotic patients. In this first article we explore the role of the surface of the body and its early sensorimotor interactions in the processes of self/other identification and differentiation. We propose that these processes have common origins, the body surface and its interactions, but different destinies, depending on where the body’s surface is projected. When it is projected intrapsychically we have differentiation, and when it is projected externally onto the body’s surface of the other, we have identification. Identification is a reciprocal process, in which the self’s and the other’s surfaces mutually contain each other and co-create a shared field. The neural correlates of identification and differentiation are discussed. The second article, which follows, describes amniotic therapy and explores a single case study.
Theoretical conceptualizations of mentalizing postulate a close relationship between the ability to mentalize and the regulation of emotional states. The former is viewed as a key process to modulate the latter, with the origins of the link between the two established in early attachment relationships. However, there is a lack of research testing this association empirically. In the present cross-sectional study, the hypothesis of a positive relationship between the two constructs was tested based on data collected on more than 500 nonclinical adult participants. Various self-assessments and an experimentally derived instrument of mentalizing were employed to this end. Correlational analyses confirmed the expected associations between emotion regulation and mentalizing. In addition, regression models showed that adaptive as well as maladaptive emotion regulation, independent of age, gender, and native language, could be predicted only by self-focused mentalizing.
Today it is still necessary and useful to deal with the empirical foundations and cultural dimensions of a discipline such as psychoanalysis that has played a vital role in shaping the contemporary world, on both sociocultural and clinical levels. This study aimed to describe and summarize the perspectives of experienced psychoanalysts on important aspects of psychoanalysis today. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 62 psychoanalysts. The interview data were processed using a theory-informed thematic analysis. There were 12 macro-themes: important aspects of psychoanalysis, important authors in psychoanalysis today, >contemporary psychoanalysis,< the proliferation of psychoanalytic >schools,< psychoanalytic identity and psychotherapy, psychoanalytic training, the Oedipus complex, dreams, the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and outcome and process research, the relationship between psychoanalysis and research in the neurosciences, empirically validated psychoanalytic concepts, and the marginalization of psychoanalysis. Our study revealed the image of a pluralistic psychoanalysis that the participants interviewed show they have, with various schools/definitions/sources, where Freud and the classical model are contested by numerous other approaches.
Aim: Through a review of philosophical and theoretical constructs, this paper offers insight and guidance as to ways in which nurse leaders may operationalize advocacy and an adherence to nursing's core ethical values. Background: The US health care system works in opposition to core nursing values. Nurse leaders are obliged to advocate for the preservation of ethical care delivery. Evaluation: This paper draws upon the philosophies of Fromm, Foucault, and Deleuze and Guattari to critically review the functions of nurse leaders within a capitalist paradigm. Key issue: Key emergent issues in the paper include health care and capitalism and the nurse leader's obligations towards advocacy. Conclusion: The nurse leader acts as parrhèsia in viewing truth telling as a duty critical to improving the lives of patients. Ramifications of the decisions by those in power have even greater impact in institutions that serve those with little to no political agency. Implications for Nursing Management: The nurse leader has a freedom and platform that their patients do not and must take the courageous risk of choosing to speak. This paper serves as a call to action for nurse leaders to urgently address the current state of US health outcomes.
Rather than being absolute, human freedom is relative because human situation and condition limits it. Also relative is press freedom. History of press in Indonesia recorded that press freedom is experienced once more by Indonesian people after the 1998 reform. At implementation level, there are numerous debates on the definition of freedom. This research attempts to analyze autonomous and dynamics press freedom in Indonesia as observed from Erich Fromm’s perspective. This research is a qualitative research on philosophical problem analyzed by means of historical-factual approach. Research result indicates that autonomous and dynamic press can be achieved through two actions. First, opposing the parties who prevent press from becoming themselves. Second, developing the >culture< of rationality, i.e. accustoming the press to develop their common sense to reach each of their realistic point.
Oedipus goes to the opera: Psychoanalytic inquiry in Enescu’s >Œdipe< and Stravinsky’s >Oedipus Rex<
(2019)
Psychoanalytic inquiry into operas based on the life of Oedipus may provide further knowledge on the Oedipus complex. Therefore, we chose to analyze Enescu’s >Œdipe< and Stravinsky’s >Oedipus Rex<. Two distinct methodologies were used in our study. The first explored the concept of free association through musical themes in the operas. The second involved the comparative study of the Oedipus myth in order to provide a deeper understanding of Oedipus’s character. We observed that Oedipus displayed symptoms of his complex through the traits of aggressiveness and arrogance. Moreover, we noticed that Oedipus was compelled by the necessity of finding out who his real parents were and by unconsciously accomplishing the prophecy. Oedipus assumed the responsibility to free the Thebans from plague. Yet, it was too late, for the feared part of the prophecy was already accomplished. He provided a wrong answer to the Sphinx and then received the most severe punishment, one that would have ostracism as its outcome. It was, however, not too late for Oedipus to finally discover who his real parents were. Nevertheless, afraid of losing his place as King of Thebes, he investigated the plague’s causes. This resulted in his aggression as he resisted discovering >where babies come from.<
The infant observation presented in this paper was conducted weekly for two years. Through an extensive use of clinical vignettes and personal and theoretical considerations, this article aims to highlight that both harmonies and pauses, as well as interruptions and dissonances, can be present in early interactive exchanges, forming the fabric of a relational piece of music that is not always as harmonious as might be desirable. The role of the father in moderating problematic interactions between the mother and her child is also examined.
[...] On this basis, we determined that 231 human genes under study are subject to natural selection against under expression (significance p < 0.0005), which equally supports the human tendencies in domination and subordination such as the norm of a reaction (plasticity) of the human social hierarchy. These findings explain vertical transmission of domination and subordination traits previously observed in rodent models. Thus, the results of this study equally support both sides of the century-old unsettled scientific debate on whether both aggressiveness and the social hierarchy among humans are inherited (as suggested by Freud and Lorenz) or are due to non-genetic social education, when the children are influenced by older individuals across generations (as proposed by Berkowitz and Fromm).
This study reports the results of the content analysis on Balada Cinta Majenun Novel by Geidurrahman El-Mishry about the love of the main character using the psychology of literature approach. The purpose of this study was to reveal the meaning of the main character's love based on Erich Fromm's love theory. The data used was the text in the novel. Reading and taking note were used to collect data. The data was classified based on the object of erotic love and divine love. Then, they were analyzed using the psychology of literature and interpreted using contextual meaning. The result showed that there was a love shift from erotic love to God love. It was influenced by the rejection of love and the concept of love that the main character owned as a result of following tharikat that later shaped his way of life into religion-oriented. His religious path, from love to the creatures that led to the path of God, gave rise to the desire to be united with God.
Love as a core value in veterinary and medical practice: Towards a humanimal clinical ethics?
(2018)
This article represents the outcome of a dialogue between a vet and a healthcare ethicist on the theme of >love< in professional life. We focus on four types or varieties of love (eros, agape, philia and storge) in relation to the professional care of humans and animals. We discuss the relevance of Fromm’s core elements of love (care, responsibility, respect and knowledge) and consider the implications of these for human and animal health care practice. We present and respond to five arguments that might be waged against embracing love as a professional value in veterinary and medical practice. We argue that a moderated love can and should be reclaimed as a contemporary professional value. It is most helpfully contextualised within virtue ethics or care ethics. We suggest that love is a rich starting point from which to launch an exploration of an interprofessional humanimal clinical ethics.
The article examines features of stability and transformation of the personality type emerging as a normative and value image of the modern Russian society. Based on approaches of Erich Fromm, David Riesman, Yuri Levada, two trends can be revealed: one of them aims to preserve those archetypal characteristics so typical of >Soviet human<, another one deals with formation of new properties that would meet goals of market oriented society and define features of individual success. Russian society is characteristic of global processes of values modernization, reasoned by R. Inglehart and C. Welzel, and reflecting individual’s pursuance of greater personal freedom and self-expression. The new value system of the Russians is still nascent; giving up on old social and cultural reality is of phantom nature. Previous research analysis allows concluding that the personality type is balancing between two poles, caused by socio-economic conditions fluctuation, poor establishment of institutional factors for system implementation of the new model, missing of a clear vision of the future, which could serve as a reference. Russian society appears to be split according to the typological dominance factor into two groups – active and passive. The problem arises on how lack of uniform symbolic and semantic field effects the modern personality type formation as it leads to social relations mobility, ongoing risk and complex processes in semio-phychological space. However, the personality type instability may be also caused by socio-cultural specifics, traditions, lack of public communication space development, preservation of former institutional structures and a particular lifestyle.
Mentalization defines the capacity to attribute mental states such as desires and beliefs to others and to understand that these can differ from our own. Such a capacity can be compromised in several psychiatric conditions and is the main target of many types of psychotherapy. Here we propose a theoretic model in which mentalization is achieved through a process we have termed >alphabetization< of the emotions. In this model, the patient–analyst relationship is observed within the analytic field so that all the communications of the patient and/or the analyst can be considered as >dreams< narrating the emotional >climate< of the field itself. Both the analyst and the patient contribute to the generation of the >climate,< and the analyst’s role is to promote the patient’s capacity to convert the unknown sensations into >dreams< or stories so as to make the emotional experience symbolized and meaningful.