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The very existence of truth, let alone its worth, is currently under attack from many quarters. In the wider culture, disinformation and other forms of misrepresenting the truth spread far and wide, as information conduits proliferate. This paper suggests some reasons for the >anti-truth< trend. Mainstream media have played a role, as have theoreticians from fields as diverse as philosophy, psychoanalysis, science, and literary criticism. >Anti-truth< trends are having a serious impact on psychological treatment, affecting its content and the conception of its goals. This paper suggests some problematic outcomes of this phenomenon for practitioners and patients in various forms of psychotherapy.
This paper explores paranoid and depressive trends in a patient who was abused as a child. It discusses how each parent affected the patient's way of coping with life's challenges. In this context, paranoia is described as a set of defenses against the father's shocking intrusions, while the mother's impact shows itself in the patient's depressive tendencies.
Understanding and Treating Patients in Clinical Psychoanalysis, London (Routledge) 2015, 140 p.
(2015)
This paper explores how Sullivan's interpersonal theory can be applied clinically and illustrates this with a clinical case. It considers the emotional impact, on the clinician, of a Sullivanian point of view. Each theoretical orientation equips the analyst differently. Sullivanian technique impacts the analyst's focus, feelings of competence, and hopefulness. Although each theory emphasizes different aspects of the clinical material, this paper suggests that there is a set of clinical values that inspire the work of all analysts, regardless of orientation.
Secret Pleasures: A Discussion of Maroda's >Legitimate Gratification of the Analyst's Needs<.
(2005)
The philosopher Seneca once said that we spend our whole lives preparing to die. Far from a morbid statement, I see this as expressing the truth that all human beings spend their whole lives overcoming their narcissism. We have to make a significant enough investment in the lives of others, and in ongoing life, so that the loss of our own, personal lives is bearable to us. How can we help our patients overcome their excessive narcissism? The analyst must be a person who has, to some degree, overcome some part of his or her own narcissistic issues. This means that he or she values human life more than pride. Our ability to make the meaning of the patient's life a priority is a key part of the treatment. In how he or she behaves, the analyst must embody the principle that the quality of a life is more important than the appearance of success or failure.
This article describes three attitudes toward psychic pain and suffering, and their clinical implications are explored and illustrated. When analyst and patient differ fundamentally in their understanding of the place of suffering in psychic life, treatment destructive clashes may result. The attitude that pain should be reduced as quickly as possible has a significant impact on the analyst's focus in treatment, most especially on the timing of interpretations of defense. A different orientation is that pain is an inevitable part of human experience and is best accepted rather than avoided. A third possibility embraces suffering as not only unavoidable, but as a primary source of wisdom and personal identity.
Shakespeare’s great play King Lear traces the downfall of a man who retired without sufficient insight into the impact of his decision. The author uses the play to frame questions about the course of her own retirement from psychoanalytic practice, on May 31, 2019. How might the decision to retire change the analyst’s sense of her own identity, and her patients’ perceptions of who she really is? What are some of the challenges of living in retirement, without the structure and purpose an analytic practice provides?
Inspired by Erich Fromm
(2015)
This paper discusses some reasons Erich Fromm's thinking is essential in analytic treatment and training today. Nevertheless, one frequently encounters resistances when presenting his ideas to candidates in psychoanalytic programs in the USA. Trends toward relativism have diluted the sense of purpose in psychoanalysis. This makes Fromm's passionate dedication to human freedom and self-actualization crucial. But, ironically, the postmodern sensibility often contributes to a rejection of Fromm's legacy. The paper offers suggestions about how Fromm's thinking, with its emphasis on authenticity, directness, intensity, full presence, and passionate purposefulness, can be fruitfully integrated into an interpersonal psychoanalytic approach.
Inspirada por Erich Fromm
(2017)
Esta ponencia analiza algunas de las razones por las cuales el pensamiento de Erich Fromm resulta esencial en el tratamiento analítico y en la preparación de los analistas hoy en día. Aun así, a menudo uno enfrenta resistencias cuando presenta sus ideas al postularse para programas psicoanalíticos en Estados Unidos. Las tendencias hacia el relativismo han diluido el sentido del propósito en el psicoanálisis. Esto hace que la apasionada dedicación de Fromm a la libertad humana y a la autoactualización sea crucial. Empero, irónicamente, la sensibilidad posmoderna a menudo contribuye a que se rechace el legado de Fromm. Esta ponencia ofrece sugerencias sobre la forma en que el pensamiento de Fromm, con su énfasis en la autenticidad, la franqueza, la intensidad, la presencia plena y el propósito apasionado, puede integrarse fructíferamente a un enfoque psicoanalítico interpersonal.
In this paper, hope is explored as a motivating force in analysis. To see the patient's and the analyst's hopes in terms of changes they expect the treatment to accomplish emphasizes the cognitive aspect of hope. While touching on these cognitive expectations, this paper focuses on the emotional, rather than the cognitive, function of hope in treatment. It addresses the question of how hope can inspire analytic participants to have the strength and stamina that analysis requires.
The analyst and the patient must feel enough hope to sustain their active effort. A significant aspect of the analyst's role is inspiring hope. This seems to require that the analyst take a life-affirming position that violates traditional notions of analytic neutrality. Yet, in facilitating the patient's full self-expression, we do not want to lose the benefits of neutrality. Fromm's work can inspire us to try to integrate an attitude of spirited hope with interpretations whose content neutrally encourages the patient to reveal his whole self.
This paper explores the current relevance of Fromm’s concept of reactive violence for understanding particular patients and for generating hypotheses about the world we live in. In his discussion of reactive violence, Fromm gives us a nuanced approach to forms of aggression that can be employed in the service of life. According to Fromm, the aim of reactive violence is preservation, not destruction. It is rooted in fear and, he believes, is the most frequent form of violence. This paper traces the evolution of Fromm’s concept of reactive violence, and considers how it might apply to today’s social and political challenges.
Each psychoanalytic theory influences the clinician’s focus. This paper examines the impact of Erich Fromm’s writing on the analyst’s attention to the material in sessions. Briefly, Fromm’s work highlights the importance of the analyst’s passion, courage, pursuit of truth, capacity to bear uncertainty and suffering, and dedication to helping people embrace their freedom and realize their full potential. Fromm has inspired generations of clinicians to become politically active citizens, maintain enlivening curiosity, and kindle the life force in themselves and those they treat. What role does theory play in the moment-by-moment behavior of the analyst in a session? I first address the general question of my view of the role of theory in clinical work. Then I turn to the more specific issue of Fromm’s influence.
In this passionate volume, Sandra Buechler introduces Erich Fromm's groundbreaking contributions to psychoanalysis, sociology, philosophy, political action, and social criticism. Buechler explores how Fromm's thinking and interdisciplinary vision are able to frame discussions of dilemmas in contemporary society. She offers a comprehensive biography of Fromm, before delving into his role as analyst, author, activist, sociologist and philosopher. From her own experience as a psychoanalyst, and from the testimony of Fromm's many ardent followers, Buechler illuminates Fromm's capacity to inspire. She considers how Fromm's writing equips students, beginning clinicians and more experienced professionals to understand what can give meaning to their efforts on behalf of troubled individuals, their riven communities, and the wider world. Assuming no prior knowledge of Fromm's work, this books offers students in clinical and social psychology, sociology, and philosophy a vital insight into his theoretical contributions. It will also be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychologists and social workers.
The case of Anna presented by Professor Giliberti is discussed from an interpersonal perspective. Attention is given to Anna's real experiences of hypocrisy, social inadequacy, hatred and blame projection. Paranoid aspects are emphasized and seen as connected with a disparity between appearance and reality in the communicative pattern of the family.
A Commentary
(1996)
Sandra Buechler's commentary provides an interesting counterpoint to Mar-golies's chapter. She observes that Fromm believed work should be an expres-sion and a vehicle for self-development and that this urge transcends historical circumstance. She questions whether the categories we create hinder or en-hance our understanding. She believes the self-developer category may have blinded the therapist to other aspects of the treatment. Her own reading of the clinical material would have led her to focus on different aspects of the patient, such as his narcissism and his sadistic sexual fantasies. Margolies would argue that these pathological elements were declining as he worked through old com-promise solutions and developed life-affirming passions in work and love-particularly as he strengthened the positive strivings of his social character ori-entation.