Having A Life

Self Pathology after Lacan

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Applied Psychology, Psychotherapy, Mental Health
Cover of the book Having A Life by Lewis A. Kirshner, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Lewis A. Kirshner ISBN: 9781135060800
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: June 17, 2013
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Lewis A. Kirshner
ISBN: 9781135060800
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: June 17, 2013
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

What is it about "having a life"- which is to say, about having a sense of separate existence as a subject or self - that is usually taken for granted but is so fragilely maintained in certain patients and, indeed, in most of us at especially difficult times? In Having A Life: Self Pathology After Lacan, Lewis Kirshner takes this Lacanian question as the point of departure for a thoughtful meditation on the conceptual problems and clinical manifestations of pathologies of the self.

Beginning with the case of Margaret Little, analyzed by D. W. Winnicott, and proceeding to extended case presentations from his own practice, Kirshner weaves together an avowedly American reading of Lacan with the approaches to self pathology of an influential coterie of theorists. By drawing out common threads in their respective discourses on the self, Kirshner achieves an original integration of Lacanian theory with other contemporary approaches to self pathology. Of special note is his ability to sustain a dialogue between Lacan and Kohut, whose shared clinical object, discernible through divergent vocabularies and conceptions, is the struggle of the subject to avoid fragmentation that would obliterate a sense of aliveness and preclude active engagement with the world.

Kirshner's opening chapter on the gifted, troubled Margaret Little and his concluding chapter on the eminent political philosopher Louis Althusser, whose self pathology culminated in his strangling of his wife, Hélène Rytman, in 1980, frame a study that is brilliantly successful in bringing "self" issues down to the messy actualities of lived experience. Analytic therapists no less than students of the human sciences will be edified by this cogent, readable attempt to infuse Lacanian concepts with the conceptual rigor and clinical pragmatism of American psychoanalysis and to apply the resulting model of therapeutic action to a fascinating range of case material.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

What is it about "having a life"- which is to say, about having a sense of separate existence as a subject or self - that is usually taken for granted but is so fragilely maintained in certain patients and, indeed, in most of us at especially difficult times? In Having A Life: Self Pathology After Lacan, Lewis Kirshner takes this Lacanian question as the point of departure for a thoughtful meditation on the conceptual problems and clinical manifestations of pathologies of the self.

Beginning with the case of Margaret Little, analyzed by D. W. Winnicott, and proceeding to extended case presentations from his own practice, Kirshner weaves together an avowedly American reading of Lacan with the approaches to self pathology of an influential coterie of theorists. By drawing out common threads in their respective discourses on the self, Kirshner achieves an original integration of Lacanian theory with other contemporary approaches to self pathology. Of special note is his ability to sustain a dialogue between Lacan and Kohut, whose shared clinical object, discernible through divergent vocabularies and conceptions, is the struggle of the subject to avoid fragmentation that would obliterate a sense of aliveness and preclude active engagement with the world.

Kirshner's opening chapter on the gifted, troubled Margaret Little and his concluding chapter on the eminent political philosopher Louis Althusser, whose self pathology culminated in his strangling of his wife, Hélène Rytman, in 1980, frame a study that is brilliantly successful in bringing "self" issues down to the messy actualities of lived experience. Analytic therapists no less than students of the human sciences will be edified by this cogent, readable attempt to infuse Lacanian concepts with the conceptual rigor and clinical pragmatism of American psychoanalysis and to apply the resulting model of therapeutic action to a fascinating range of case material.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Disability in Jewish Law by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Museums and Source Communities by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Meeting Special Needs in Mainstream Schools by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Clinical Assessment, Computerized Methods, and Instrumentation by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Educating Children and Young People with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Urban Squares as Places, Links and Displays by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Children With Prenatal Drug Exposure by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Behavioral and Mental Health Care Policy and Practice by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Perspectives on Social Media by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Contemporary Citizenship, Art, and Visual Culture by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Youth of Darkest England by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Promoting Democracy and Human Rights in Russia by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book The ID CaseBook by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Theodicy Beyond the Death of 'God' by Lewis A. Kirshner
Cover of the book Forecasting China's Future by Lewis A. Kirshner
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy