This book, founded on the in-depth discussion of sixteen clinical cases of psychoanalysis, tries to answer the question of what psychoanalysts do when they are practicing psychoanalysis.

The authors have collaborated with over a thousand colleagues worldwide to collect a unique dataset of everyday clinical sessions using a new workshop discussion method designed to reveal differences. Faced with diversity but wanting to surface and understand it, not suppress it, they had to evolve a new theoretical framework. It covers different approaches to the analytic situation (using the metaphors, cinema, dramatic monologue, theatre and immersive theatre); different sources of data to use to infer unconscious content, differences in the troubles patients unconsciously experience and how to approach them and differences in when, about what and how a psychoanalyst should talk.

Eventually taking the form of 11 very practical questions for psychoanalysts to ask of each session they conduct, the framework tries to help experienced psychoanalysts and students alike to choose what they want to try to do and to assess for themselves how far they are doing it. A final chapter applies the new framework and eleven practical questions to some contemporary technical controversies with some surprising results.

About the Author

About the Author

David Tuckett is a Distinguished Fellow and Training and Supervising Analyst at the British Psychoanalytic Society and Emeritus Professor of Decision-Making at University College London (UCL). He is a practicing psychoanalyst as well as Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was the founding editor of the New Library of Psychoanalysis. He has served as Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, President of the European Psychoanalytic Federation, Board member of the International Psychoanalytic Association and Chair of the Comparative Clinical Methods working party. He has contributed books and journal articles in the fields of medical sociology, economics and cognitive science and developed and published articles in leading journals on Conviction Narrative Theory - a theory of choice under uncertainty, which combines psychoanalytic, neuroscientific, sociological, and economic insights to understand decision making under uncertainty and its wider effects on society, such as in the creation of financial crises. He gave a TED lecture at the University of Warwick and spoke at significant policy-making events such as the Davos Forum as well as publishing on monetary and financial stability policy in the staff working papers series of the Bank of England. He has twice received the Sigourney Award for contributions to psychoanalysis.

Contributors

Elizabeth Allison, Olivier Bonard, Abbot Bronstein, Georg J. Bruns, Anna L. Christopoulos, Michael Diercks, Eike Hinze, Marinella Linardos, Marie Rudden, Michael Sebek

Reviews

I thank David Tuckett for the deep experience reading his book has evoked in me. It is a profound, comprehensive analysis of the present crisis in the theory and practice of psychoanalytic technique. The penetrating, objective, and fair description of the dominant alternative models of psychoanalytic interventions upgrades the very level of the respective controversial discussions.

-- Otto F. Kernberg, M.D., director, Personality Disorders Institute, Cornell Medical Center; president, International Psychoanalytical Association

A ground-breaking exploration of psychoanalytic practice. Through their meticulous research, analysis of workshop discussions, and psychoanalytical writings, the authors offer a shared theoretical framework for self-enquiry. I participated in the work that led to this book and the one that preceded it, always gaining a better understanding of the models with which my colleagues worked and the model I used myself. This book challenges and guides psychoanalysts to reflect on their practice, fostering a deeper understanding of the analytic situation, recognition of the unconscious, and transformative interventions. A must-read for professionals seeking to enhance their therapeutic approach and contribute to the evolution of psychoanalysis.

-- Antonino Ferro, MD, past president, Italian Psychoanalytic Society

This pioneering work from the Comparative Clinical Methods (CCM) project accomplishes Freud's wished for Junktim of practice and theory-elaborating the traditional case study into a research method with group validation of findings. Using case reports of well know analysts, the CCM team develops and demonstrates a new theoretical frame that all clinicians will find illuminating.

-- William Glover, PhD, past president, American Psychoanalytic Association

We are invited to follow the creative work of an international group of psychoanalysts researching the different basic modes of doing analysis, leading up to the identification of those significant moments when the unconscious maximally reveals itself in the disturbing phenomena which occur unexpectedly. A unique and fascinating book.

-- Dana Birksted Breed, PhD, training and supervising analyst, British Psychoanalytic Society; former editor, International Journal of Psychoanalysis and the New Library of Psychoanalysis

In this ground-breaking book, David Tuckett et al. show how their sophisticated, nuanced research model applied to the clinical material from the long-standing Comparative Clinical Methods Working Party allows them to present a sophisticated comparison of different psychoanalytic methods. It is beautifully written with numerous clinical examples that are discussed in an unbiased way. Every psychoanalyst can benefit from reading this book.

-- Fred Busch, PhD, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute

Psychoanalytic literature has accrued a vast bibliography on theory, but there is relatively little in comparison when it comes to exploring what ordinary psychoanalytic sessions look like and how theoretical assumptions bleed into practice. This book splendidly fills this gap by taking the reader into the denseness and complexities of analytic practice through a rigorous method of study and comparison. It should not be missed!

-- Beth and Elias Mallet de Rocha Barros, training and supervising analysts, Brazilian Society of Sao Paulo



Book Information
ISBN 9781538188101
Author David Tuckett
Format Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 608g
Dimensions(mm) 255mm * 178mm * 18mm