Psychoanalytic Perspectives On The Shadow Of The Parent

Psychoanalytic Perspectives on the Shadow of the Parent explores the psychological challenges faced by the offspring of either famous or notorious parents. Beginning with parental legacies found in mythology and the Bible, the book presents a series of case studies drawn from a range of narrative contexts, selecting personalities drawn from history, politics, psychoanalysis and literature, all viewed from an analytic perspective. The concluding section focuses on the manifestation of this parental shadow within the field of fine art, as written by artists themselves. This is a lively and varied collection from a fascinating range of contributors. It provides readers with a new understanding of family history, trauma and reckoning screened through a psychoanalytic perspective, and will appeal to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, counsellors and anyone interested in the dynamics of the family.

In this book, Prophecy Coles traces the existential history of the unwanted child with particular attention to the illegitimate child, linking myth, literature and clinical practice in the historical and legal context of adoption. From the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century until the early twentieth century the lives of such children were short-lived. The Adoption Act of 1926 did much to change the moral climate and the fate of the illegitimate child. It provided the child with a legal family and a name. There follows some unexpected difficulties that emerged after World War Two. Adopted children did not necessarily thrive, and young mothers who had been forced to give up a child born out of wedlock revealed their suffering. The sealed records of the illegitimate child’s origins became an issue. Attachment theory and the development of neuroscience underpin the theoretical approach of this book. Today, the children who are available for adoption are older and may be distressed by several years in care. Fundamental to helping these adopted children and their families there needs to be a multi-disciplined therapeutic approach to try and mitigate the damage that has often been done to the early infant brain through trauma. This book brings to life some of the adoption issues through the study of personal memoirs. Each chapter considers adoption from a different angle: the adopted child, the birth mother, the birth father, foster parents and adopting parents. The final chapter discusses some of the problems around adoption that have arisen again with reproductive technology and surrogate mothering. This book will be of interest to all those who have been involved in or affected by adoption. It will be of special interest to those adopting parents who have not been properly prepared or supported in their magnificent work of taking on some of the most troubled children in our society.

Psychoanalytic and Psychotherapeutic Perspectives on Step-families and Step-parenting looks at the role step-parents can play in the psychic development of children. Step-parenting requires enormous confidence and resilience that stretches into a territory of human emotions and conflict that can make marriage seem easy. Prophecy Coles’ concern has been that we are witnessing a new kinship system and our psychological thinking has not kept up with the emotional effect that stepparents are having upon the next generation. The author traces the history of our beliefs about stepparents through the oral tradition of the fairy story into our present, arguably prejudiced beliefs about them. Coles explores whether our feelings about stepparents arise from the unconscious tradition that placed stepparents in hostile opposition to the natural forces of parenting. The absence of detailed clinical work on the subject has meant that the author has drawn on interviews, biography and three long term research projects to think about this new family constellation. Covering such topics as the prevalence and importance of step-mothers historically, the reasons for psychoanalytic neglect of this subject, and using clinical material drawn from work with step-mothers, children and fathers, this is a much-needed guide to working with families affected by maternal loss and alternative parenting roles. It will encourage a further appreciation of the psychological difficulties that stepparents face, and at the same time offer a re-appraisal of the pain that young children go through when their parents decide to separate. Psychoanalytic and Psychotherapeutic Perspectives on Step-families and Step-parenting will appeal greatly to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists.

To what extent are the concepts of fatherhood and family, as proposed by Sigmund Freud, still valid? Psychoanalysis, Fatherhood, and the Modern Family traces the development of Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex and discusses his ideas in the context of recent psychoanalytic work, new sociological data, and theoretical explorations on gender and diversity. Contributors include representatives from many academic disciplines, as well as practicing psychoanalysts who reflect on their experience with patients. Their exciting essays break new ground in defining who a father is—and what a father may be.

This book explores the interpersonal world of sibling relationships, explaining how these relationships are central to the development of the psyche of the individual, of the group, of society and of the organisation. Sibling Relations and the Horizontal Axis in Theory and Practice considers four key areas: sibling relations, sibling trauma, the law of the mother and the horizontal axis. The contributors journey through examples from the psychological, philosophical, organisational, social and cultural realms, giving a new perspective on the psychic world and the importance of sibling relationships as an empowering and therapeutic component for building relationships. While we are used to looking at the individual, the group and at society through the vertical, hierarchical relationship that results from parent–child relationships, this book discusses and reveals the impact of the horizontal axis. Sibling Relations and the Horizontal Axis in Theory and Practice will be important reading for psychoanalysts, group analysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists in practice and in training.

Movement, Velocity, and Rhythm from a Psychoanalytic Perspective: Variable Speed(s) explores philosophical and psychoanalytic theories, as well as artworks, that show sensible bodily rituals for reviving our social and subjective lives. With a wide range of contributors from interdisciplinary backgrounds, it informs readers on how to find rituals for syncing ourselves with others and world rhythms. The book is divided into three parts on variability, speed, and slowness, and explores rhythmic rituals of renewal, revolution, and reflection. Each chapter provides unique examples from the applied arts, film, television, and literature to show how different practices of rhythm might aid in creative and deep contemplation and includes philosophical and cultural theories for bodily and rhythmic renewal. Without being limited to a clinical perspective, this book provides wide-ranging discussions of the relation between rhythm, trauma, cultural studies, psychosocial studies, continental philosophy, critical psychology, Lacan, and film, to explore modes of becoming more attuned to each moment, to others, and to our own era. Movement, Velocity, and Rhythm from a Psychoanalytic Perspective will be essential reading for Lacanian psychoanalysts in practice and in training, as well as anyone interested in rhythm at the intersection of Lacanian psychoanalysis and continental philosophy.

Personal and Cultural Shadows of Late Motherhood explores the topic of delayed motherhood from a Jungian psychoanalytic perspective, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, including interview transcripts, diaries, dreams, and Jung's world renowned Word Association Experiment. It provides a unique contribution to our understanding of the pressures faced by women today on the topic of delayed motherhood. We may consider an affect to be in place when a woman allows her relationship to her body and its procreative capacity to slip away from consciousness, only to awaken at a point when redeeming her past choices becomes a hunger. This book delves into personal, cultural and collective spheres of influence that have been split off waiting for the right moment to reintegrate. Working with Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis and Jung’s Word Association Experiment, the author identifies aspects of the psyche arousing late procreative desire and considers the differing accounts of maternal and paternal parents, within affective experience of growing up female beside a male sibling. The book examines women’s procreative identity in midlife, identifies complexes of a personal, cultural and collective nature and considers how the role of mother is psychosocially performed, taking in feminist psychoanalytical thinking as well as Queer theory to explore new meanings for late motherhood. This book will be of great interest to clinicians, researchers, academics, postgraduate students of Jungian psychoanalysis, gender theory, psychosocial studies, and those travelling alongside a woman's journey into later motherhood.

This important book draws together new research and theories about bereavement, on the one hand, and men and masculinities on the other, to increase our understanding of men’s experience of loss and contribute towards improving support services for men following bereavement. Bereavement and loss are unavoidable events in life and can be challenging experiences for anyone, regardless of gender. However, in contemporary western cultures, men’s experience of bereavement continues to be framed by socially constructed ideas surrounding masculinity, which dictate that men must be stoic following a loss, with grief manifesting in either anger or despair. Men who do not grieve in accepted ‘masculine’ ways can feel judged, alienated or disenfranchised. This interdisciplinary and interprofessional collection presents theoretical analysis, reports of research findings, reviews of support and interventions, and a wealth of personal accounts. It includes chapters discussing partner loss, childhood bereavement, perinatal loss and bereavement through suicide, as well as bereavement at all stages of the life course. Men and Loss is an essential read for advanced students and researchers with an interest in men’s health and bereavement studies from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, including nursing, medicine, counselling, sociology, social work and psychology.