Carrying forward his inquiry into the nature and conditions of normal and abnormal development, Lichtenberg focuses on motivation. His goal is to offer an alternative to psychoanalytic drive theory that accommodates the developmental insights of infancy research while accounting for the entire range of phenomena addressed by the theory of instinctual drives. To this end, he propounds a comprehensive theory of the self, which then gains expression in five discrete yet interactive motivational systems.
Biography
Joseph D. Lichtenberg, M.D., is Editor-in-Chief of Psychoanaytic Inquiry, Director Emeritus of the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, and past President of the International Council for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology. He has authored and edited numerous books and articles, including Craft and Spirit: A Guide to the Exploratory Psychotherapies (Analytic Press, 2005) and, with Frank Lachmann and James Fosshage, A Sprit of Inquiry: Communication in Psychoanalysis (Analytic Press, 2002).
"Joseph Lichtenberg has for some time been one of the most cogent contributors to the essential task of revising the basic theory of psychoanalysis. With this new book on the sources of human motivation, he has brought the field measurably closer to the accomplishment of that great joint project."
- John E. Gedo, M.D., Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis
"It is hard to guess which of Lichtenberg's accomplishments will be most appreciated by the reader of this extraordinary book - whether it is his drawing a unified theory of motivation from both psychoanalysis and the new infant research studies, or his finding a proper place in theory and practice for all our competing psychoanalytic viewpoints, or his truly pioneering way of identifying the shifting types of need expressed by a patient from minute to minute, this last making Psychoanalysis and Motivation a veritable handbook of specific and sophisticated empathy."
- Lawrence Friedman, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College
"Pathbreaking advances in psychoanalytic theory and practice always have occurred only when an innovating master psychoanalyst had the courage to amalgamate the accumulating experiences from his own and others' past analytic endeavors with the personal insights gained from self explorations. It is just this kind of integrative strength that typifies Joseph Lichtenberg's bold synthesis. Separating the wheat from the chaff, he presents us with a multifaceted approach to motivation that encompasses all the newer research without losing its firm roots in the basic theories of psychoanalysis. Lichtenberg brings to the task not only his many years of psychoanalytic experience but also an intimate familiarity with the contiguous sciences that, in impinging on psychoanalysis, are becoming part of it. For the reader who is no longer satisfied with merely studying the history of psychoanalysis but who wants to participate in making this history, there is no surer guide than Joseph Lichtenberg."
- Ernest S. Wolf, M.D., Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis
"In this important volume Lichtenberg brings together a wide range of post-ego psychology advances to extend analytic understanding. Combining uncommon scholarship with sensitive and broad clinical experience, he blends neonatology, developmental studies, and self and object psychologies into a subtle, complex, and rich overview of motivation. Abundant patient vignettes help clarify the applicability of this discerning contemporary integration to analytic practice."
- Warren S. Poland, M.D., Washington Psychoanalytic Society
"In this masterful collection, synthesis, and reformulation of contemporary infant research, Joseph Lichtenberg seeks to extend our understanding of underlying motivational systems by using fresh psychoanalytic conceptualizations."
- Jerome Winer, M.D, American Journal of Psychiatry
