Vamik D. Volkan recounts the story of Judy, a woman attempting to solve her early life deprivations through non-chemical addiction. He provides an understanding of the psychology behind such an addiction and also illustrates pertinent therapeutic concepts and issues which arose in Judy's case. These include built-in transference, twinning, interpretation, dreams, hoarding, acting out, and therapeutic play. By paying attention to such things, it is possible to gain a greater understanding of the internal worlds of patients with preoedipal deprivations, conflicts, and fixations.

For this case, Dr Volkan undertook the role of supervisor to an analyst in training. The topics of the psychoanalytic supervisor-supervisee relationship and the supervisor's emotional reactions toward the patient, whom the supervisor never meets, are rather ignored in the psychoanalytic literature. This book gives an open and frank overview of the relationship, reporting not only what was said but also what lay behind the words.

Written in Dr Volkan's characteristically accessible style, this book will be enjoyed equally by those under supervision as those providing it, and provides an excellent overview of work with addiction.

About the Author

Vamik Volkan, MD, DFLAPA, received his medical education at the School of Medicine, University of Ankara, Turkey. He is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville and an emeritus training and supervising analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, Washington, DC. In 1987, Dr Volkan established the Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction (CSMHI) at the School of Medicine, University of Virginia. CSMHI applied a growing theoretical and field-proven base of knowledge to issues such as ethnic tension, racism, large-group identity, terrorism, societal trauma, immigration, mourning, transgenerational transmissions, leader-follower relationships, and other aspects of national and international conflict. A year after his 2002 retirement, Dr Volkan became the Senior Erik Erikson Scholar at the Erikson Institute of the Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, Massachusetts and he spent three to six months there each year for ten years.

In 2006, he was Fulbright/Sigmund Freud-Privatstiftung Visiting Scholar of Psychoanalysis in Vienna, Austria. Dr Volkan holds honorary doctorate degrees from Kuopio University (now called the University of Eastern Finland), Finland; from Ankara University, Turkey; and the Eastern European Psychoanalytic Institute, Russia. He was a former president of the Turkish-American Neuropsychiatric Society, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Virginia Psychoanalytic Society, and the American College of Psychoanalysts. Among many the awards he received are the Nevitt Sanford Award, Elise M. Hayman Award, L. Bryce Boyer Award, Margaret Mahler Literature Prize, Hans H. Strupp Award, the American College of Psychoanalysts' Distinguished Officer Award for 2014, and the Mary S. Sigourney Award for 2015. He received the Sigmund Freud Award given by the city of Vienna, Austria in collaboration with the World Council of Psychotherapy. He also was honoured on several occasions by being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize with letters of support from twenty-seven countries. Dr Volkan is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than fifty psychoanalytic and psychopolitical books, including Enemies on the Couch: A Psychopolitical Journey through War and Peace. Currently Dr Volkan is the president emeritus of the International Dialogue Initiative (IDI), which he established in 2007. He continues to lecture nationally and internationally.

Reviews

'The author's approach and style result in a clear explanation of the key points while maintaining interest for the reader. This is not a dry read and is best suited to reading from cover to cover. [...] This is an enjoyable read and a good starting point to delve deeper into the concepts offered within. I found Volkan's book to be a good addition to my library.'

-- Beverly Neeson, student member of BACP, 'Therapy Today' March 2022

'In his latest book, Vamik Volkan, esteemed psychoanalyst, scholar and prolific author, takes up the phenomenon of sexually compulsive behaviour [...] The story is one that describes the layered, at times daunting, analytic journey of Judy, Dr Rowan and Volkan, and reminds us of the power of analytic treatment and its usefulness with some of the most complicated and entrenched repetitive behaviours and destructive patterns.'

-- Drew Tillotson, The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 103:2, 2022



Book Information
ISBN 9781912691388
Author Vamik Volkan
Format Paperback
Page Count 112
Imprint Phoenix Publishing House
Publisher Karnac Books
Weight(grams) 203g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 7mm