Psychoanalysis, the Self, and the World: Postphenomenology, Consciousness, and Death

This book takes psychoanalysis into the 21st century, examining issues of existentialism, postphenomenology, social media, and death and death anxiety that have gone largely ignored in the psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic literature. Using an interdisciplinary perspective, Leffert explains that it is impossible to close the door of the consulting room. The therapeutic relationship is invaded by the outside world and its relationships for both patient and therapist and cannot be isolated from these influences. Drawing on richly detailed case studies, Leffert demonstrates how the internet, social media, and the metaverse have changed and expanded the self in ways that could not have been imagined in the last century. In turn, Leffert acknowledges recent advances in the neurosciences, and addresses the lack of engagement with their implications for theories and practices of therapeutic action. Finally, the ways in which death and death anxiety impinge on the self, which have also gone mostly undealt with in psychoanalytic literature, become an important focus of this book. As a novel exploration of interdisciplinary connections, this book will be of use to both scholars and practitioners of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, social network theory, philosophy, and neuroscience.

Table of Contents:
Introduction  1. So Why Do We Need Philosophy Anyway? Phenomenology, Postmodernism, and the Plague in the Psychoanalytic Workplace  2. The Evo-Devo of Phenomenology and Prephenomenology  3. Postphenomenology and Its Evo-Devo  4. Consciousness and Unconsciousness: A Fresh Appraisal  5. Death and Death Anxiety - A Further Search for Meaning  Afterword

About the Author :
Mark Leffert was educated in medicine, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis in New York and California. He has maintained a practice of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in Del Mar, Minneapolis, and, currently, Santa Barbara. He has been on the faculty of five psychoanalytic institutes and has been a training and supervising analyst at four of them. He is the author of six prior books and several papers.

Review :
'Mark Leffert has shown himself to be the most creative analyst writing today. In this book, in keeping with his other innovative contributions, he demonstrates that modern psychoanalysis is intimately linked with developing knowledge in the fields of philosophy, neuroscience, psychology and existential thought. The new work extends and enriches our understanding of psychoanalysis as does none other in the contemporary literature. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the life of the mind.' Theodore Jacobs, training and supervising analyst at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and the New York University Psychoanalytic Institute 'Leffert elegantly guides us through multiple personal and social meanings to place contemporary psychoanalysis in the context of human evolution and development. He integrates phenomenology, existentialism, and confronting death. This book offers the reader a profound synthetic cognitive adventure and is strongly recommended for all clinicians and minds interested in modern psychoanalysis.' Peter Loewenberg, professor emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles