This book presents a Lacanian perspective on the understanding and treatment of anorexia, supported by case material, research and theoretical insight from the author’s 25 years of clinical practice.
Domenico Cosenza explains how anorexia constitutes a challenge for contemporary psychoanalytic clinicians, assesses previous theoretical understandings and examines clinical contributions from other schools of psychoanalysis. Cosenza argues that anorexia cannot be treated by following a classical psychoanalytic path, and here draws on numerous clinical cases to articulate a Lacanian approach which addresses core concerns not resolved elsewhere. Elaborating on Lacanian concepts including refusal and the object nothing, Cosenza offers a new approach for all psychoanalytically-informed clinicians working with anorexia.
A Lacanian Reading of Anorexia will be of great interest to psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and psychotherapists interested in Lacanian perspectives and the dynamic-analytical approach in the treatment of anorexia.
Introduction. 1. The Anorexic Solution 2. Anorexia as a Frontier in the Contemporary Clinical Debate 3. The Anorexic Question in Psychoanalysis Between Narcissism and Dependence 4. Anorexia in Lacan's Teaching 5. Lacanian Readings of Anorexia 6. The Four Functions of Refusal in Anorexia Nervosa 7. The Object Nothing in the Lacanian Clinic of Anorexia 8. The Teaching of Infantile Anorexia 9. Anorexia Nervosa in Adolescence 10. Guidelines in the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa 11. Conclusion
Biography
Domenico Cosenza is a psychoanalyst in private practice in Milan, Italy. He is an Analyst Member and past President of the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis (SLP) and a member of the World Association of Psychoanalysis (WAP).
"In this highly significant book Domenico Cosenza shows us refusal may be torned into a way forward. Through his remarkable insights, he shows us how it is paradoxically in the impasse that it presents that a solution to anorexia may be found."
Prof. François Ansermet, psychoanalyst, member of the WAP, Emeritus Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Universities of Geneva and Loussanne.
"Domenico Cosenza incisively surveys the full spectrum of literature of anorexia - psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, Lacan, and the contemporary Lacanian Orientation and draws on his own clinical experience in many settings, and those of colleagues, to provide the clinician a much-needed framework for working with patientswith anorexia. That alone makes this book a must-buy, but Cosenza also highlights how the study of anorexia, alongside other eating disorders and addiction, is necessary in reforging a clinic for today’s civilisation."
Thomas Svolos, MD, New Lacanian School and Creighton University School of Medicine.
"A Lacanian Reading of Anorexia is one of the finest contemporary contributions by a psychoanalyst to the theoretical understanding and treatment of anorexia nervosa. The analysis of rejection, the core symptom of this life-threatening psychosomatic disorder, is enlightening for psychodynamically oriented psychotherapists and those who follow other theoretical-clinical approaches."
Massimo Cuzzolaro, formerly Sapienza University of Rome; Past President, SISDCA; Founding Editor-in-Chief of Eating and Weight Disorders. Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia, and Obesity.
"You find in your hands, a rare and exceptional book. Domenico Cosenza has given as a veritable treasure; a distillation on the best psychoanalytic thinking on anorexia. Based on years of intensive work with anorexic patients both in Italian community-based institutions and private practice, and firmly grounded in the work of Jacques Lacan, Cosenza’s book brings a well-organized account of theory and clinical articulation to English-speaking audiences. A landmark tour de force by a highly regarded analyst that firmly establishes a Lacanian perspective on this crucial clinical issue, setting the tone for any future work on anorexia."
Fernando Castrillón, personal and supervising psychoanalyst, editor-in-chief the European Journal of Psychoanalysis
"Cosenza addresses eating disorders without getting stuck in Lacanian jargon for initiated ones, in a way that is both fresh but at the same time rigorous. An excellent clinical approach, which always involves theoretical interrogations."
Sergio Benvenuto, psychoanalyst, founder of the European Journal of Psychoanalysis
"Domenico Cosenza’s book will be helpful to clinicians for treating 'the psychological wall' that anorexic patients build, brick by brick, to detach themselves from the Other. In according to a Lacanian perspective, Cosenza emphasizes a clinical work focused on the role of 'the word' in order to develop in these patients their 'desire' to go beyond the wall of anorexia. It is a must-read book."
Giuseppe Craparo, psychoanalyst and professor of Clinical Psychology at the Kore University of Enna, Italy.
