Testimony and Witnessing in Psychoanalysis - Softcover

Rosenberg Schipper, Zipi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1032517808 ISBN 13: 9781032517803

Publisher: Routledge, 2023

Synopsis

In this fascinating volume, Zipi Rosenberg Schipper approaches the fundamental topic of testimony, seeking to recognize its value as a distinct and vital function in psychoanalytic work, separate from its inherited importance to work on trauma.

Rosenberg Schipper introduces a revivifying philosophical, linguistic and psychoanalytic approach to the act of testimony, focusing on the role of witnessing in daily life and the importance it has as a therapeutic tool in psychoanalytic and psychological therapy. Throughout, she pinpoints three key psychoanalytic theories on patient testimony. She begins by looking at Freud’s foundational work on testimony as a means of concealing the unconscious and the questions of credibility in the consulting room this creates before looking at Winnicottian and Kohutian theories, whereby therapists take everything the patient says as a definitive truth. She concludes by looking at the Intersubjective and Relational schools of thought, where the therapist assumes the role of witness.

By providing a comprehensive overview of the conflicting theories on the topic, Rosenberg Schipper equips practicing psychoanalysts and analysts-in-training with the tools necessary to utilize this vital therapeutic device and engage with it in treatment for all patients.

About this title

About the Author

Zipi Rosenberg Schipper is a clinical psychologist, supervisor and occupational therapist working in private practice in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1032517808
• ISBN 13: 9781032517803
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 164