Dennis B. Klein explores the Jewish consciousness of Freud and his followers and the impact of their Jewish self-conceptions on the early psychoanalytic movement. Using little-known sources such as the diaries and papers of Freud's protégé Otto Rank and records of the Vienna B'nai B'rith that document Freud's active participation in that Jewish fraternal society, Klein argues that the feeling of Jewish ethical responsibility, aimed at renewing ties with Germans and with all humanity, stimulated the work of Freud, Rank, and other analysts and constituted the driving force of the psychoanalytic movement.
From August 29 to September 21, 1909, Sigmund Freud visited the United States, where he gave five lectures at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. This volume brings together a stunning gallery of leading historians of psychoanalysis and of American culture to consider the broad history of psychoanalysis in America and to reflect on what has happened to Freud’s legacy in the United States in the century since his visit. There has been a flood of recent scholarship on Freud’s life and on the European and world history of psychoanalysis, but historians have produced relatively little on the proliferation of psychoanalytic thinking in the United States, where Freud’s work had monumental intellectual and social impact. The essays in After Freud Left provide readers with insights and perspectives to help them understand the uniqueness of Americans’ psychoanalytic thinking, as well as the forms in which the legacy of Freud remains active in the United States in the twenty-first century. After Freud Left will be essential reading for anyone interested in twentieth-century American history, general intellectual and cultural history, and psychology and psychiatry.
For the past thirty-fi ve years, Dr. Barbara Pomar has guided her clients on journeys into their past lives. Confessions of a Regressionist presents both her personal account of her work with clients working to reverse past decisions to change the present and future and the theories behind the practice. For some, the very existence of past lives, let alone the ability to reconnect with them, is a point of spirited debate. Even so, Dr. Pomar has helped many to come to their own conclusions about the validity of this technique. Now, she guides readers on using her techniques to live more fully or mold their destinies. She also discusses theories on why and how past-life regression is possible. If youve ever struggled with how the possibility of past-life regression fits within your faith, Dr. Pomar off ers advice on how to evaluate your conflict. If you are a regressionist, Dr. Pomars work can help you realize that by helping your client, you also help past and future generations as well. If youve ever considered meeting with a regressionist, Dr. Pomar explains how this sort of experience can help you live more fully in the present, with joy, confi dence, and prosperityby releasing or neutralizing memories of harmful events.
More than ever, the aging process is recognized as carrying a special set of emotional challenges–especially when acute or chronic medical conditions are involved. In this light, Psychodynamic Perspectives on Aging and Illness presents a fresh, contemporary application of psychodynamic theory, addressing the complex issues surrounding declining health. Informed by the spectrum of psychodynamic thought from self, relational, and classical theories, this forward looking volume offers more modern interpretations of theory, and techniques for working with a growing, complicated, but surprisingly resilient population. It illuminates how to enhance the therapeutic relationship in key areas such as addressing body- and self-image issues, approach sensitive topics, and understand the disconnect that can occur between medical patients and the often impersonal, technology-driven health care system. At the same time, the author cogently argues for pluralism in a therapeutic approach that is frequently threatened by forces both within and outside the field. Among the topics covered: Medical illness as trauma. Idealization and the culture of medicine. Normative and pathological narcissism in the ill and/or aging patient. Noncompliant and self-destructive behaviors. Transference and countertransference issues. Psychotherapy with cognitively impaired adults. Grief, loss, and hope. Expanding on what we know and candid about what we don’t, Psychodynamic Perspectives on Aging and Illness offers mental health researchers and practitioners an insightful framework for improving the lives of older patients.
