Between 1978 and 1985 Dr Herbert Rosenfeld was one of a number of British analysts invited by a group of Societa di Psycoanalisi Italiani members to conduct a series of seminars and supervisions for the purpose of deepening and refining that group's clinical skills and theoretical understanding. This book is an illuminating record of that encounter, and a warm tribute to the significant influence of Rosenfeld's contribution.

In this book Franco de Masi examines the terminology used in the analysis of sadomasochism and surveys in detail the theories of other psychoanalysts. He explores the relationship between sadomasochism and other conditions, such as depression, psychosis and borderline states, and discusses the nature of evil in the broadest way possible.

Vulnerablity to Psychosis provides the clinician with important perspectives on the origins and development of delusions in psychosis and offers a new perspective regarding the radical differences between delusional and normal or neurotic thought, and how these differences come about.

Franco De Masi addresses the human vulnerability to psychosis. He invites the reader into a thoughtful, systematic exploration of many aspects of the complex problems associated with psychotic illnesses: its ontogenesis and the emotional crises that lead to the dominance of psychotic thinking,...

This book, intertwining the psychoanalytic approach with the historical, sociological and political analysis that confirms the complexity and many-sidedness of the subject, deals with the devastating phenomenon of suicide terrorism.

The behavior of suicide terrorists cannot be understood making use of psychopathological categories. Whereas a suicidal terrorist attack can be described as a crime against humanity, its protagonists cannot be classified only as criminal or insane. This book examines carefully the process of dehumanization that characterizes this collective behavior and...

In this book the author examines the series of connections that give rise to the intimate relationship between environment and individual in the construction of emotional suffering, emphasizing both the undisputed pathogenic action of environmental stimuli and the active participation of whoever is obliged to suffer the negative situation. De Masi shows that the way in which one tries to escape suffering is what often seriously jeopardizes growth.

Working with Difficult Patients points out the intrinsic link between some forms of mental suffering and the distorted responses...