1st Edition
The Omnipotent State of Mind Psychoanalytic Perspectives
This book presents an examination and exploration of the concept of omnipotence, its qualities and expression as a psychic state, its origins in the psyche and its appearance in the psychoanalytic process and in society.
Linked with narcissism but underdeveloped as a concept in its own right, omnipotence is explored in this book from a range of psychoanalytic perspectives, including its positive value in normal development through to its potential as a destructive element in the personality. The Omnipotent State of Mind is presented in five parts, each exploring a specific theme. The contributors explore omnipotence in infants, children, adolescents and adults, consider why it is so difficult to give up, and examine how the omnipotent state of mind is expressed in culture and society. The range of attitudes towards omnipotence within different psychoanalytic traditions is represented by the international selection of contributors.
The Omnipotent State of Mind will be of great interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training, to psychoanalytic psychotherapists and to other professionals interested in omnipotent states of mind.
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
