1st Edition
Intimacy Clinical, Cultural, Digital and Developmental Perspectives
Intimacy: Clinical, Cultural, Digital and Developmental Perspectives applies a contemporary, psychoanalytic lens to the many facets of intimacy between people, from romantic and sexual relationships, to friendliness, as well as the ways intimacy is mediated by new digital technologies.
Identifying commonalities and differences between a range of approaches, including Classical Freudian, attachment theory, and interpersonal theory, the book includes case studies that highlight how intimacy is framed in a variety of relationships. It examines the line between privacy and intimacy, as well as how intimacy changes at different stages of one’s lifespan.
From the friends we have to the pets we own, or the faith we follow, a cross-cultural perspective ensures that intimacy is conceived of as a broad, essential element underlying all human relationships. The intimacy between analyst and analysand is also examined.
This far-reaching book will interest both practicing and training psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, as well as those in related disciplines.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; ABOUT THE EDITOR AND CONTRIBUTORS; INTRODUCTION; PROLOGUE; CHAPTER ONE: The concept of intimacy: an introductory overview, Salman Akhtar; THE SPECTRUM OF INTIMACY; CHAPTER TWO: Intimacy and attachment, April Fallon & Rao Gogineni; CHAPTER THREE: Intimacy and its vicissitudes in adolescence, David Pauley; CHAPTER FOUR: Friendship, friendliness, and intimacy, Gurmeet S. Kanwal; CHAPTER FIVE: Intimacy and otherness in multicultural/multiracial/interfaith couples, Bari Smelson-Kanwal; CHAPTER SIX: Forty shades of gray in intimacy for Iranians, Siamak Movahedi; CHAPTER SEVEN: Privacy and intimacy as two mediators of relatedness, Suzanne Benser; CHAPTER EIGHT: Technology, intimacy, and the simulation of intimacy, Todd Essig, Leora Trub, and Danielle Magaldi; CHAPTER NINE: Psychoanalytic intimacy, Christie Platt; EPILOGUE; CHAPTER 10: The many shapes of intimacy, Lori Bohm; References; Index
Biography
Gurmeet Kanwal, M.D., is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Supervising Psychoanalyst and Teaching Faculty, William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology. He is co-editor (with Salman Akhtar) of Bereavement: Personal Experiences and Clinical Applications (Karnac Books, 2017). He practices in New York City.
Salman Akhtar, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He is the author/editor of over 90 books, including the most recent, Mind, Culture, and Global Unrest (Routledge, 2018).
"I don't believe that there exists another body of work that covers the broad subject of intimacy as thoroughly as this one. Intimacy, as well as privacy, is discussed, in particular, from a developmental framework and most uniquely, from a multicultural and multi-gendered framework. Included in this unique and most contemporary volume are pointed discussions of intimacy in the age of technology, intimacy in the therapeutic relationship, intimacy with lovers, intimacy with friends, intimacy with animals and intimacy with a supreme being. Any clinician is bound to benefit enormously from exposure to this edited book." Irwin Hirsch, Ph.D., New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis; The William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis & Psychology
"Who amongst us does not want to know more about the topic of intimacy? And, this book provides all of us a great opportunity to do so. From Akhtar's masterful introduction through Kanwal's perspicacious chapter to Bohm’s concluding commentary, the reader repeatedly encounters rich, sophisticated, and nuanced discussion of various facets of intimacy. These include intimacy in love, friendship, spirituality, man’s relationship with animals, and, most importantly, intimacy in the clinical situation. This book is a delight both for the intellect and the emotions!" Aisha Abbasi, M.D., Training and Supervising Analyst, Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute, Author of Rupture of Serenity (2014)
