Primitive Agony and Symbolization

by Rene Roussillon

Overview

The fundamental outlook of this book is clinical. It attempts to establish a unitary model of the processes at work in different forms of narcissistic pathology, and to offer a model that is both an alternative to, and complementary to, Freud's model of what are usually considered to be neurotic problems. The aim is to extract a sequence of mental processes that could be seen as typical of narcissistic disturbances of the sense of identity, with their several forms and clinical variations. The book describes how these are structured, together with their intrapsychic and intersubjective functions, based on the hypothesis of a defensive pattern that is set up to counter the effect of a split-off primary trauma and the threat that hangs over the mind and subjectivity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367107079
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/05/2019
Series:	The International Psychoanalytical Association Psychoanalytic Ideas and Applications Series
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

ABOUT THE AUTHOR PSYCHOANALYTIC IDEAS AND APPLICATIONS SERIES - IPA Publications CommitteeINTRODUCTION Primary trauma, splitting, and non-symbolic primary bindingPART I: AGONY CHAPTER ONE Drives and intersubjectivity CHAPTER TWO The capacity to be alone in the presence of the analyst CHAPTER THREE Interpretation, play, and style CHAPTER FOUR Play and potential CHAPTER FIVE Communicating primitive experiences CHAPTER SIX The primitive "inter-I" and primary "doubled" homosexuality CHAPTER SEVEN Destructiveness and complex forms of the "survival" of the objectPART II: SYMBOLIZATIONS CHAPTER EIGHT The symbolizing function of the object CHAPTER NINE Associativity and non-verbal language CHAPTER TEN Research and exploration in psychoanalysis REFERENCES INDEX

Editorial Reviews

"Rousillon invites us, firstly, to explore the nature of the primary agonies, and to examine the processes of symbolization which allow the subject to proceed to the subjective appropriation of what is lived. Secondly, to create a dialogue with authors whose contributions he considers meaningful, specially basing himself on D. W. Winnicott for the analysis of the primary agonies, but also taking into account contributions from other authors, from Sandor Ferenczi to Daniel Stern and writers in the neurosciences. Rousillon’s proposals will have an unquestionable interest for those who are willing to explore the bridges that his book, from a firm metapsychological base, intends to establish with the new realities and challenges that open both from inside and outside psychoanalysis."

Ricardo Bernardi

"Deeply rooted in the French tradition, Roussillon is an analyst and author with an independent mind, willing to embrace diversity while not falling into unprincipled eclecticism. This book is highly representative of his whole endeavour as an author: a creative, personal integration of Freudian metapsychology with Winnicott’s clinical and theoretical landscape. This makes for an original contribution to contemporary psychoanalytic thinking."

Dominique Scarfone

"Deeply rooted in the French tradition, Roussillon is an analyst and author with an independent mind, willing to embrace diversity while not falling into unprincipled eclecticism. This book is highly representative of his whole endeavour as an author: a creative, personal integration of Freudian metapsychology with Winnicott’s clinical and theoretical landscape. This makes for an original contribution to contemporary psychoanalytic thinking."

"Rousillon invites us, firstly, to explore the nature of the primary agonies, and to examine the processes of symbolization which allow the subject to proceed to the subjective appropriation of what is lived. Secondly, to create a dialogue with authors whose contributions he considers meaningful, specially basing himself on D. W. Winnicott for the analysis of the primary agonies, but also taking into account contributions from other authors, from Sandor Ferenczi to Daniel Stern and writers in the neurosciences. Rousillon’s proposals will have an unquestionable interest for those who are willing to explore the bridges that his book, from a firm metapsychological base, intends to establish with the new realities and challenges that open both from inside and outside psychoanalysis."

From the Publisher