The Omnipotent State of Mind Psychoanalytic Perspectives

Introduction

In the beginning . . .

1. The survival function of primitive omnipotence

JOAN SYMINGTON

2. The thumb-in-the-mouth phantasy and the capacity to love

LESLEY STEYN

3. Peter Pan, the omnipotent child

KATHLEEN KELLEY-LAINÉ

In the adolescent . . .

4. Omnipotence in adolescence

SARA FLANDERS

5. Customising the body: From omnipotence to autonomy

ALESSANDRA LEMMA

In the adult . . .

6. On three forms of thinking: Magical thinking, dream thinking, and transformative thinking

THOMAS H. OGDEN

7. The appeal of omnipotence

MICHAEL FELDMAN

8. A neuropsychoanalytic note on omnipotence

MARK SOLMS

9. The relinquishment of omnipotence in a severely traumatised patient

HEINZ WEISS

10. Possessed by a cruel God: The damaging effect of an omnipotent internal object

CARLOS TAMM

11. From patients to presidents: The Grand Illusion

FRANK SUMMERS

Why is omnipotence so difficult to give up?

12. Overcoming obstacles in analysis: Is it possible to relinquish omnipotence and accept receptive femininity?

JOHN STEINER

13. Omnipotence and the difficulty in relinquishing it

DAVID SIMPSON AND JEAN ARUNDALE

The desire for power in culture and society . . .

14. Omnipotence and the paradoxes of insight: A Darwinian look

JORGE L. AHUMADA

15. Lear, Kane and the workings of omnipotence

NOEL HESS

16. Applying my theory of psychosis to the Nazi phenomenon

HERBERT ROSENFELD

17. The destructiveness of omnipotence and ‘perverted containing’: Psychoanalytic reflections on the dynamic between Donald Trump and his supporters

KARIN JOHANNA ZIENERT-EILTS

18. Notes toward a model for omnipotence

JEAN ARUNDALE

Biography

Jean Arundale, PhD, is a training and supervising analyst of the British Psychoanalytic Association and author of the book Identity, Narcissism, and the Other (Routledge). She is also co-editor of Transference and Countertransference and Interpretive Voices (both Routledge).

'This scholarly book brings much needed clarification as well as new ideas on the notion of omnipotence. Its richness lies in the profound exploration of this concept by a broad spectrum of eminent psychoanalysts. The book covers many different aspects of omnipotence as it can be encountered both in normal development and in pathological states of mind such as in manic states. The editor’s thoughtful selection and careful editing results in a very valuable contemporary contribution to the psychoanalytic literature.'

Professor Catalina Bronstein, MD, Visiting Professor, Psychoanalysis Unit, University College London and Fellow and Training Psychoanalyst, British Psychoanalytical Society

'The ubiquitous invocation of the concept of omnipotence has come to obscure the increasing imprecision and casualness with which it is used. Assembling some of the finest psychoanalytic clinicians and theorists writing today, Jean Arundale’s indispensable collection brings to light the fascinating variegation and complexity of this key psychic phenomenon.'

Professor Josh Cohen, Psychoanalyst (BPAS) and Professor of Literary Theory, Goldsmiths University of London

'This volume places omnipotence in its long overdue rightful place as a key concept in psychoanalytic metapsychology and clinical practice. Omnipotence of thought and feeling are ineradicable features of the human condition and emotional life. In addition to their numerous pathological guises, they appear as normal components of child development, achievement in the real world, and the development of self-esteem.'

Howard B. Levine, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Routledge Wilfred R. Bion Studies Series