Salman Akhtar

"With contributions from distinguished scholars and clinicians who view human erotic desire from modern developmental, relational, societal, and cross-cultural perspectives, Eroticism: Developmental, Cultural, and Clinical Realms offers a multi-faceted and up-to-date glimpse into what we find sexually attractive and why. While psychoanalysis has unshackled itself from the narrow confines of instinct theory to include ego psychology, object relations theory, self psychology, and the contemporary relational paradigm, such heuristic and clinical advance is sorely needed to further our grasp of human eroticism and love. Accommodation also needs to be made for the cultural changes that have occurred over the last five or six decades. These include the feminist corrective to the phallocentrism of 'classical' psychoanalysis, the new insights into human subjectivity and personality development provided by the gay and lesbian movement, the contemporary de-centering of the essentialist and binary gender formulations, and the post-colonial voices of the non-Western people. By providing theoretically-anchored clinical guidelines, Eroticism provides not only an update on the early analytic understanding of human eroticism but advances clinical praxis as well"--

"This comprehensive book provides a balanced overview of the current research on divorce. The authors examine the scientific evidence to uncover what can be said with certainty about divorce and what remains to be learned about this socially and politically charged issue. Accessible to parents and teachers as well as clinicians and researchers, the volume examines the impact of marital breakup on children, adults, and society." "Alison Clarke-Stewart and Cornelia Brentano synthesize the most up-to-date information on divorce from a variety of disciplinary perspectives with thoughtful analysis of psychological issues. They convey the real-life consequences of divorce with excerpts from autobiographies by young people, and they also include guidelines for social policies that would help to diminish the detrimental effects of divorce."--Jacket.

"Freud's Beyond the Pleasure Principle constitutes a major landmark and a real turning point in the evolution of psychoanalytic theory. Pushing aside the primacy of the tension-discharge-gratification model of mental dynamics, this work introduced the notion of a "daemonic force" within all human beings that slowly but insistently seeks psychic inactivity, inertia, and death. Politely dismissed by some as a pseudo-biological speculation and rapturously espoused by others as a bold conceptual advance, "death instinct" became a stepping stone to the latter conceptualizations of mind's attacks on itself, negative narcissism, addiction to near-death, and the utter destruction of meaning in some clinical situations. The concept also served as a bridge between the quintessentially Western psychoanalysis and the Eastern perspectives on life and death. These diverse and rich connotations of the proposal are elucidated in On Freud's "Beyond the Pleasure Principle". Other consequences of Freud's 1920 paper - namely, the marginalization of ego instincts and the "upgrading" of aggression in the scheme of things - are also addressed. The editors have gathered a body of distinguished psychoanalysts from around the world to argue, discuss, elaborate upon, and advance Freud's path-breaking contribution. The result is a book of rare intelligence, charm, and clinical significance. Contributors: Salman Akhtar, Ira Brenner, Fatima Caropreso, Michael Feldman, Betty Joseph, Otto Kernberg, Joshua Levy, Ashok Nagpal, Mary Kay O'Neil, Henri Parens, Richard Theisen Simanke, W. Craig Tomlinson, Elisabeth Young-Bruehl"--Provided by publisher.

The New Motherhoods: Patterns of Early Child Care in Contemporary Culture offers innovative perspectives in psychotherapy that accommodate emerging pathways to parenthood, changing roles of mothers, and evolving patterns of family structure. Moms come in all shapes and sizes, and psychoanalytic developmental theory could be modified to better embrace modern mothers and today’s childcare practices. In this volume, distinguished clinical psychologists and psychoanalysts offer divergent conceptual perspectives on what shapes contemporary mothering, including the increasing number of single mothers in our society, the additional challenges faced by immigrating mothers, how technology affects the parent-child relationship, and gender identity in families today. Incorporating the most current research along with engaging clinical vignettes, The New Motherhoods provides mental health professionals with an invaluable collection of insights into modern motherhood and its essential role in the care and healthy development of children. -- Provided by publisher.

This concise and well-written book deals with six important roots of human anguish. It divides the six areas into those primarily affecting the individual and those primarily affecting others around him. Among the former are fear, greed, and guilt. Among the latter are deception, betrayal, and revenge. The book deals with each realm from descriptive, psychodynamic, sociocultural, and clinical perspectives. It provides ample literary examples and vignettes from psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. The aim is to help the readers enhance their empathy with these complex human experiences and to become more adept in helping their patients renounce or reduce their suffering.

In this book the author addresses certain matters of urgent global concern. These include migration across national borders, the current refugee crisis, ethno-racial prejudice, subjective distress of minorities, and, above all, the forever-present ominous shadow of terrorism. Akhtar evolves and advocates a uniquely 'anthropological psychoanalysis' which is a blend of depth psychology and humanities, including sociology, economics, political science, history, and , of course, anthropology. He deconstructs what seems self-evident and confronts his readers with some socio-politically unpleasant realities, both within psychoanalysis and in the prevalent perspectives on the on-going turmoil and bloodshed in today's world.

Description: 118 p. ; 20 cm. Abstract: An unmarried couple's separation is complicated by children. The father is a TV scriptwriter who has been unfaithful, the mother is in publishing and the setting is London. As he narrates their story, the man describes his mixed feelings, torn between the prospect of freedom and the loss of his sons.

Shows how to understand and let go of your guilt. The first part deals with the causes of guilt, its manifestations, where it originates, how it works in the family and in personal relationships, and how it is manipulated by advertisers and salesmen. Describes the outlets it finds when it is denied, its relationship to fear and anger, shame and jealousy, and how it differs in men and women. The second part focuses on how to let go of the guilt the reader has been carrying around for years and includes chapters on denial, changing the inner script of the past, what to do when guilt persists, distinguishing between real guilt and imagined guilt, how to lessen it and how to cope with it.

This book is about understanding and managing patients with severe personality disorders. It covers biological, psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioural approaches and provides a pragmatic guide to best practice, based on the published evidence, where this is available. As well as discussing issues of severity, treatability and the range of appropriate management options, the content explores the common elements of effective interventions and covers early prediction, countertransference, disruptions of the therapeutic alliance, suicidal crises and what to do when dealing with dangerous, refractory and stalking patients.

In het hedendaagse Pakistan, met zijn grote tegenstelling tussen rijk en arm, zijn machtsstrijd, politiek gekonkel en corruptie dagelijks voorkomende verschijnselen.