The Omnipotent State of Mind: Psychoanalytic Perspectives

ISBN-13: 9781032027944 / Angielski / Miękka / 2022 / 240 str.

Jean Arundale

Opis

This book presents an examination and exploration of the concept of omnipotence, its qualities and expression as a psychic state, its origins in the psyche and its appearance in the psychoanalytic process and in society.

Recenzje

'This scholarly book brings much needed clarification as well as new ideas on the notion of omnipotence. Its richness lies in the profound exploration of this concept by a broad spectrum of eminent psychoanalysts. The book covers many different aspects of omnipotence as it can be encountered both in normal development and in pathological states of mind such as in manic states. The editor's thoughtful selection and careful editing results in a very valuable contemporary contribution to the psychoanalytic literature.'

Professor Catalina Bronstein, MD, Visiting Professor, Psychoanalysis Unit, University College London and Fellow and Training Psychoanalyst, British Psychoanalytical Society

'The ubiquitous invocation of the concept of omnipotence has come to obscure the increasing imprecision and casualness with which it is used. Assembling some of the finest psychoanalytic clinicians and theorists writing today, Jean Arundale's indispensable collection brings to light the fascinating variegation and complexity of this key psychic phenomenon.'

Professor Josh Cohen, Psychoanalyst (BPAS) and Professor of Literary Theory, Goldsmiths University of London

'This volume places omnipotence in its long overdue rightful place as a key concept in psychoanalytic metapsychology and clinical practice. Omnipotence of thought and feeling are ineradicable features of the human condition and emotional life. In addition to their numerous pathological guises, they appear as normal components of child development, achievement in the real world, and the development of self-esteem.'

Howard B. Levine, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Routledge Wilfred R. Bion Studies Series

Spis treści

Introduction  In the beginning . . .  1. The survival function of primitive omnipotence  2. The thumb-in-the-mouth phantasy and the capacity to love  3. Peter Pan, the omnipotent child  In the adolescent . . .  4. Omnipotence in adolescence  5. Customising the body: From omnipotence to autonomy  In the adult . . .  6. On three forms of thinking: Magical thinking, dream thinking, and transformative thinking  7. The appeal of omnipotence  8. A neuropsychoanalytic note on omnipotence  9. The relinquishment of omnipotence in a severely traumatised patient  10. Possessed by a cruel God: The damaging effect of an omnipotent internal object  11. From patients to presidents: The Grand Illusion  Why is omnipotence so difficult to give up?  12. Overcoming obstacles in analysis: Is it possible to relinquish omnipotence and accept receptive femininity?  13. Omnipotence and the difficulty in relinquishing it  The desire for power in culture and society . . .  14. Omnipotence and the paradoxes of insight: A Darwinian look  15. Lear, Kane and the workings of omnipotence  16. Applying my theory of psychosis to the Nazi phenomenon  17. The destructiveness of omnipotence and ‘perverted containing’: Psychoanalytic reflections on the dynamic between Donald Trump and his supporters  18. Notes toward a model for omnipotence

O autorze

Jean Arundale, PhD, is a training and supervising analyst of the British Psychoanalytic Association and author of the book Identity, Narcissism, and the Other (Routledge). She is also co-editor of Transference and Countertransference and Interpretive Voices (both Routledge).