1st Edition

Psychoanalysis as Therapy and Storytelling

By Antonino Ferro Copyright 1999
    160 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    160 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Is psychoanalysis a type of literature? Can telling 'stories' help us to get at the truth?

    Psychoanalysis as Therapy and Storytelling examines psychoanalysis from two perspectives - as a cure for psychic suffering, and as a series of stories told between patient and analyst.

    Antonino Ferro uses numerous clinical examples to investigate how narration and interpretation are interconnected in the analytic session. He draws on and develops Bion's theories to present a novel perspective on subjects such as:

    • psychoanalysis as a particular form of literature
    • sexuality as a narrative genre or dialect in the analyst's consulting room
    • delusion and hallucination
    • acting out, the countertransference and the transgenerational field
    • play: characters, narrations and interpretations.

    Psychoanalytic clinicians and theoreticians alike will find the innovative approach to the analytic session described here of great interest.

    Winner of the 2007 Sigourney Award.

    Introduction. Narrations and Interpretations. Telling Ourselves Stories With, Perhaps, a Grain of Truth. In Praise of Row C: Psychoanalysis as a Particular Form of Literature. Sexuality as a Narrative Genre or Dialect in the Analyst’s Consulting Room. The Waking Dream: Theoretical and Clinical Aspects. Delusion and Hallucination. Characters in Literature and in the Analyst’s Consulting Room. Notes on Acting Out, the Countertransference and the Transgenerational Field. Child and Adolescent Analysis: Similarities and Differences that Mask an Underlying Unity. Play: Characters, Narrations and Interpretations.

    Biography

    Antonino Ferro, Dana Birksted-Breen, Philip Slotkin