The Joy of Torment: Understanding and Managing Sadomasochism

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments About the editor and contributors Introduction PART I: CONCEPTUAL ASPECTS 1. Freud’s changing views on sadomasochism Tom DeRose 2. Freudian sadomasochism and its contemporary incarnations Louis Rothschild 3. Masochism and the delusion of omnipotence from a developmental perspective Jack Novick and Kerry Kelly Novick PART II: CULTURAL ASPECTS 4. Misogyny, sadomasochism, and pornography Asmita Sharma and Prachi Akhavi 5. The strategic confluence of altruism and sadomasochism in martyrdom Arsalan Malik 6. Society, sadism, and a satirical take on the family Victoria Curea PART III: CLINICAL ASPECTS 7. Childhood grievance, defensive idealization, and sadomasochistic failure of mourning Lisa Crilley 8. Sadomasochism in couples psychotherapy Philip A. Ringstrom 9. Sadomasochism, sexual excitement, and perversions Otto Kernberg 10. On cruelty Salman Akhtar 11. Analytic struggles and sadistic maneuvers Nilofer Kaul 12. E-sadomasochism and clinical psychoanalysis Ruth Axelrod-Praes and Benny Weiss-Steider References Index

About the Author :
Salman Akhtar, MD, is professor of psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and a training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has served on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. His more than 450 publications include twenty-three solo authored books – Broken Structures (1992), Quest for Answers (1995), Inner Torment (1999), Immigration and Identity (1999), New Clinical Realms (2003), Objects of Our Desire (2005), Regarding Others (2007), Turning Points in Dynamic Psychotherapy (2009), The Damaged Core (2009), Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (2009), Immigration and Acculturation (2011), Matters of Life and Death (2011), Psychoanalytic Listening (2013), Good Stuff (2013), Sources of Suffering (2014), No Holds Barred (2016), A Web of Sorrow (2017), Mind, Culture, and Global Unrest (2018), Silent Virtues (2019), Tales of Transformation (2022), In Leaps and Bounds (2022), and In Short (2024) – as well as sixty- nine edited or coedited volumes in psychiatry and psychoanalysis. Dr. Akhtar has delivered many prestigious addresses and lectures including, most significantly, the inaugural address at the first IPA-Asia Congress in Beijing, China (2010). Dr. Akhtar is the recipient of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Best Paper of the Year Award (1995), the Margaret Mahler Literature Prize (1996), the American Society of Psychoanalytic Physicians’ Sigmund Freud Award (2000), the American College of Psychoanalysts’ Laughlin Award (2003), the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Edith Sabshin Award (2000), Columbia University’s Robert Liebert Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Psychoanalysis (2004), the American Psychiatric Association’s Kun Po Soo Award (2004), the Irma Bland Award for being the Outstanding Teacher of Psychiatric Residents in the country (2005), and the Nancy Roeske Award (2012). He received the Sigourney Award (2013), which is the most prestigious honor in the field of psychoanalysis. Dr. Akhtar is an internationally sought speaker and teacher, and his books have been translated in many languages, including German, Turkish, and Romanian. His interests are wide and he has served as the film review editor for the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, and is currently serving as the book review editor for the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. He has published eighteen collections of poetry and serves as a scholar-in-residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia. His Selected Papers (Vols I–X) were recently published and released at a festive event held at the Freud House & Museum in London. Lisa Crilley, LMFT, is a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist, clinical supervisor of young psychotherapists and associates, and senior candidate in psychoanalysis who is deeply invested in matters of psychic growth. Her particular clinical interests include personality development, complex trauma, compulsive ways of self-regulating, and primitive and psychotic states. Her rigorous training, which involved earning her master’s degree from Antioch University Los Angeles and continuing her studies at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS), laid the groundwork for her to become a vibrant, assiduous leader at LAISPS and in the psychoanalytic community. Crilley proudly represents LAISPS on the Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies (CIPS) board and the International Psychoanalytical Studies Organization (IPSO). In addition to chairing LAISPS’s community relations program and cochairing the organization’s program committee and specialized training program, “Altered States of Body and Mind: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Substance Abuse and Eating Disorders,” Crilley also teaches and lectures at Los Angeles psychoanalytic institutes as well as in the community and is currently creating new programming for LAISPS focused on introducing psychoanalytic thinking to a general audience. Lisa is an avid reader; her book reviews have appeared in the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies and the American Journal of Psychoanalysis.

Review :
‘This is an exceptional and rare book. The “cursed problem of masochism”, as Ferenczi put it in 1931, has never received such broad-ranging and deep attention from a group of distinguished psychoanalysts. This compendium is not only a thorough summation of the issues involved in sadomasochism but also a fascinating stroll through the works of Freud and his successors right up to the present day.’ ‘In this book, an international group of experienced clinicians examine sadomasochism from multiple viewpoints. They address topics as diverse as sadistic enactments and pornography, e-sadomasochism and martyrdom, and sadomasochistic sexual excitement and human cruelty. The result is a fascinating book replete with fresh insights of theoretical importance and clinical value.’ ‘This groundbreaking collection offers a comprehensive exploration of sadomasochism, humiliation, omnipotence, and cruelty from developmental, clinical, and social perspectives, including perverse forms of virtual sexuality in the internet age. With compelling case studies and incisive theoretical formulations, the book provides a profound understanding of human frailty, approaching challenging subjects with a resolutely ethical and non-judgmental stance. Reading this book is enriching and essential for anyone seeking to understand the depths of human aggression and destructiveness in physical, mental and sociocultural domains.’