Traumatic Ruptures Abandonment And Betrayal In The Analytic Relationship

For much of its history, psychoanalysis has been strangely silent about sudden ruptures in the analytic relationship and their immediate and far-reaching effects for those involved. Such issues of betrayal and abandonment – the death of an analyst, a patient’s suicide, an ethical violation – disrupt the stability and cohesion of the analytic framework and leave indelible marks on both individuals and institutions alike. In Traumatic Ruptures an international range of contributors present first-person, highly personal and sometimes painful accounts of their experiences and the occasionally difficult yet redeeming lessons they have taken from them. Presented in four parts, the book explores multiple meanings and consequences of the break in the analytic relationship. Part One, Ruptured Subjectivity: Lost and Found, presents accounts of clinical encounters with death. Part Two, Rupture: The Clinical Process, addresses the sudden loss of an analyst, the trauma of patient suicide and the issue of countertransference when working with patients who have suffered the unexpected loss of their first analyst. Part Three, The Long Shadow of Rupture, examines the effects of ethical violations in the short and long term. Finally, Part Four, Ruptures’ Impact on Organizations, looks at the wider impact of ethical and sexual boundary violations in the context of an organization and the effect of trauma on a psychoanalytic institute. By giving voice to issues that are usually silenced, the authors here open the door to understanding the complex nature of traumatic rupture within the analytic field. This intimate exploration of psychoanalytic treatments and communities is ideal for psychoanalysts, psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatrists and family therapists. It is an important text for clinicians working with individuals who have experienced traumatic ruptures and for members of organisations dealing with their effects.

Inspired by the clinical and ethical contributions of Muriel Dimen (1942-2016), a prominent feminist anthropologist and relational psychoanalyst, Sexual Boundary Trouble in Psychoanalysis challenges the established psychoanalytic and mental health consensus about the sources and appropriate management of sexual boundary violations (SBVs). Gathering contributions from an exciting range of analysts working at the cutting edge of the field, this book shatters normative professional guidelines by focusing on the complicity and hypocrisy of professional groups, while at the same time raising for the first time the taboo subject of the ordinary practicing clinician’s unconscious professional ambivalence and potentially "rogue" sexual subjectivity. Sexual Boundary Trouble in Psychoanalysis uncovers the roots of SBV in the institutional origins and history of psychoanalysis as a profession. Exploring Dimen’s concept of the psychoanalytic "primal crime," which is in some ways constitutive of the profession, and the inherently unstable nature of interpersonal and professional "boundaries," Sexual Boundary Trouble in Psychoanalysis breaks new ground in the continuing struggle of psychoanalysis to reconcile itself with its liminal social status and morally ambiguous practice. It will appeal to all psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists.

Relational Treatment of Trauma: Stories of loss and hope is the culmination of over 35 years of psychotherapy with children and adults, many of whom have suffered the effects of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. It addresses a gap in the literature on the treatment of trauma and chronic loss that are ubiquitous parts of life in foster care. While "trauma-informed care" has received considerable attention recently, there is little that focuses on the consequences of repeated, unexpected, and unexplained or unexplainable losses of caregivers. Relational Treatment of Trauma explores the ways in which those experiences arise in the therapeutic relationship and shows how to help clients build the trust necessary for establishing healthier, and more satisfying and hopeful relationships. Toni Heineman introduces and reinforces the concept of the relationship as the most powerful agent of therapeutic change. She highlights the ways in which clinicians can build and sustain a relationship with clients whose experience of trauma can make them wary of trusting, illustrating this theme throughout the book with compelling case vignettes. The book is especially valuable for psychoanalysts, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and family therapists working with those who have suffered traumatic loss. It is essential reading for clinicians in the early part of their career, working with traumatized individuals for the first time. Dr. Heineman has practiced in San Francisco for over 35 years, working with children, adults, and families. She is the founder and executive director of A Home Within. Dr. Heineman presents and publishes widely.

Why would someone decide to become a psychotherapist? It is well-known within the field that psychoanalysts and psychotherapists are often drawn to their future professions as a result of early traumatic experiences and being helped by their own psychoanalytic treatment. While dedicating their lives to relieving emotional suffering without being judgmental, they fear compromising their reputations if they publicly acknowledge such suffering in themselves. This phenomenon is nearly universal among those in the helping professions, yet there are few books dedicated to the issue. In this innovative book, Farber and a distinguished range of contributors examine how the role of the ‘wounded healer’ was instrumental in the formulation of psychoanalysis, and how using their own woundedness can help clinicians work more effectively with their patients, and advance theory in a more informed manner. Celebrating the Wounded Healer Psychotherapist will be of interest to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists, graduate students in clinical disciplines including psychology, social work, ministry/chaplaincy and nursing, as well as the general public.

Boundaries and Boundary Violations in Psychoanalysis is a state-of-the-art overview of the problem of boundary violations in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. This new edition is a major overhaul of the seminal first edition, published 20 years ago, and addresses topics with which every psychoanalyst, therapist, resident, and training director should be conversant. Penned by one of the foremost experts on psychoanalysis, the book is both broad and thorough in scope, presenting models of prevention to help readers avoid boundary problems in their practices and providing expert advice on institutional responses to complaints and rumors. In addition, the impact of boundary violations on patients is examined, a long-neglected and overdue exploration that encourages increased institutional responsiveness to victims' needs. The book was designed to inform and forearm, with chapters and features that psychoanalysts and therapists will find eminently useful: The fear that the patient may commit suicide and how that fear may play a role in the development of boundary violations warrants a separate chapter therapists will find illuminating. Boundaries in cyberspace, a topic only recently pertinent, is explored in depth in a chapter that provides guidance on how the therapeutic frame has been broadened by the impact of texting, email, googling, and social media. Detailed guidelines on how to handle complaints are included, information that will prepare organizations to respond both strategically and compassionately to these complex situations. Examples and cases are based on those the author has encountered over 30 years of evaluating, treating, and consulting and reflect the diversity of clinical practice, involving both male and female violators as well as victims and their families. Boundary violations do not always include a sexual relationship, and the types of boundary violations discussed include nonsexual, supervisory, and post-termination. Every chapter has been updated to include new data and current understanding, addressing the most critically important topics in a rigorous, yet humane manner. Boundaries and Boundary Violations in Psychoanalysis is the most authoritative resource on the subject, and will help the reader manage boundaries across a variety of therapeutic contexts.

Inspired by the clinical and ethical contributions of Muriel Dimen, Social Aspects of Sexual Boundary Trouble goes beyond the established consensus that sexual boundary violations (SBV) constitute a serious breach of professional ethics, in order to explore the cultural and historical implications of their chronic persistence. In Rotten Apples and Ambivalence, her last major publication, Dimen (2016) maintained that "the phenomenon of sexual transgression between analyst and patient . . . is insufficiently addressed so long as it is only deemed psychological." In responding to and developing Dimen’s argument, the distinguished contributors to this volume bring the discussion of SBV to a new level of ethical rigor and depth, challenging the psychoanalytic profession to go beyond its codified complacency. This collection shatters normative professional guidelines by focusing on the complicity and hypocrisy of professional groups, while at the same time raising the taboo subject of the ordinary practicing clinician’s unconscious professional ambivalence and potentially "rogue" sexual subjectivity. Social Aspects of Sexual Boundary Trouble uncovers the roots of SBV in the institutional origins and history of psychoanalysis as a profession. Exploring Dimen’s concept of the psychoanalytic "primal crime," which is in some ways constitutive of the profession, and the inherently unstable nature of interpersonal and professional "boundaries," Social Aspects of Sexual Boundary Trouble breaks new ground in the continuing struggle of psychoanalysis to reconcile itself with its liminal social status and its origins as a subversive, morally ambiguous practice. It will be highly relevant to specialists in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, critical theory, feminist studies and social thought.

The Dissociative Mind in Psychoanalysis: Understanding and Working With Trauma is an invaluable and cutting edge resource providing the current theory, practice, and research on trauma and dissociation within psychoanalysis. Elizabeth Howell and Sheldon Itzkowitz bring together experts in the field of dissociation and psychoanalysis, providing a comprehensive and forward-looking overview of the current thinking on trauma and dissociation. The volume contains articles on the history of concepts of trauma and dissociation, the linkage of complex trauma and dissociative problems in living, different modalities of treatment and theoretical approaches based on a new understanding of this linkage, as well as reviews of important new research. Overarching all of these is a clear explanation of how pathological dissociation is caused by trauma, and how this affects psychological organization -- concepts which have often been largely misunderstood. The Dissociative Mind in Psychoanalysis will be essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists, trauma therapists, and students.

Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Integration traces the history of efforts to integrate psychoanalysis with other psychotherapeutic modalities, beginning with the early analysts, including Ferenczi and Rank, and continuing on to the present day. It explores the potential for integration made possible by contemporary developments in theory and technique that are fundamental to a relational psychoanalytic approach. Editors Jill Bresler and Karen Starr bring together an array of valuable theoretical and clinical contributions by relationally oriented psychoanalysts who identify their work as integrative. The book is organized in four segments: theoretical frameworks of psychotherapy integration; integrating multiple models of psychotherapy into a psychoanalytically informed treatment; working with specific populations; the future of integration, exploring the issues involved in educating clinicians in integrative practice. The contributions in this volume demonstrate that integrating techniques from a variety of psychotherapies outside of psychoanalysis can enrich and enhance psychoanalytic practice. It will be an invaluable resource for all practicing psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, and psychoanalysts and psychotherapists in training, particularly those with an interest in relational psychoanalysis and psychotherapy integration.