The Soul, the Mind, and the Psychoanalyst

This book is based on various cases whose common factor is how the psychoanalytic setting is created: the internalization and realization inside the patient`s mind: with the feeling of fixed hours and the transferential relation with the psychoanalyst. Referring to the great masters of psychoanalysis, Rosenfeld guides us step by step through the mysterious terrain of the mind, especially in its most regressive, primitive and psychotic aspects. Thomas Ogden, commenting on the papers collected here, wrote that 'they represent two of the most important contributions of the past decade to the understanding of the psychoanalytic treatment of psychotic patients'. This book is intended to be felt and thought about. The reader is asked to read between the lines, to imagine and feel beyond the words on the page. It will appeal to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and students.

Table of Contents:
Foreword -- Preface -- September 11th: military dictatorship and psychotic episode—year 1973 -- Eating disorders: psychoanalytic technique -- Drug abuse, regression, and primitive object relations -- Psychotic addiction to video games -- Listening to and interpreting a psychotic patient -- Autistic encapsulation -- Psychotic body image -- Dialogue with Shakespeare and Jean-Paul Sartre about psychoanalysis and scientific methodology

About the Author :
David Rosenfeld is a consultant professor at Buenos Aires University; Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry; a training analyst of the Buenos Aires Psychoanalytic Society, and a former Vice-President of the International Psychoanalytical Association

Review :
'This fine book is a distillation of the wisdom of an experienced psychoanalytic clinician who has worked systematically for many years in an effort to understand the meaning of his patients' serious suffering and what they demand of him to improve their lives. David Rosenfeld ranges across a wide variety of severe disturbances, particularly psychotic conditions, all of which present significant clinical challenges. What is striking when reading these accounts is Rosenfeld's comprehensive grasp of his patient's needs. He provides quiet but substantial containment; an unwavering interest in the meaning of his patient's communications; and a sensitive use of countertransference experiences to gradually bring into symbolic form the inchoate anxieties his patients need to have transformed. No mental health worker treating the severely disturbed should fail to add this book to their collection.'- Paul Williams, Joint Editor in Chief, International Journal of Psychoanalysis'A stirring exemplar of the praxis of an intensely dedicated and courageous analyst who undertakes the fully psychoanalytical treatment of the grossly psychotically ill. David Rosenfeld impresses us anew with what but a handful of our pioneers have shown us, the possibilities of committed psychoanalysis in rescuing even the deeply psychotic-and thus can embolden all of us our daily struggles with the demons in our patients' psyches.'- Robert S. Wallerstein, MD, Ex-President, International Psychoanalytical Association'All therapists will find instruction and material for reflection on their own practice in the abundant and very detailed clinical material presented.'- Alain de Mijolla, Editor Director, International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis'This book is a marvellous display of epistemological sophistication affirming the true value of analytic concepts not by the conclusions reached but through the methods of inquiry.'- Norbert Freedman, Member of the House of Delegates, International Psychoanalytical Association