Contexts of Being: The Intersubjective Foundations of Psychological Life (Psychoanalytic Inquiry Book Series)

Stolorow, Robert D.; Atwood, George E.

ISBN 10: 0881631523 / ISBN 13: 9780881631524

Published by Routledge, 1992

About this Item

The item is very worn but is perfectly usable. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. Page edges may have foxing age related spots and browning . May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.

Seller Inventory # BVV.0881631523.A

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Contexts of Being: The Intersubjective Foundations of Psychological Life (Psychoanalytic Inquiry Book Series)
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0881631523
• ISBN 13: 9780881631524
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: acceptable

About this title

Synopsis

In this volume, the authors complete the circle begun with Faces in a Cloud (1979) and continued with Structures of Subjectivity (1984) and Psychoanalytic Treatment: An Intersubjective Approach (1987- with Brandchaft). They now extend intersubjectivity theory to a rethinking of the foundational pillars of psychoanalytic theory since they have already demonstrated the degree to which psychological theory is influenced by the subjective world of the psychological theorist, explored the various "structures of subjectivity" that organize the subjective world, and applied the intersubjective perspective to a broad array of clinical issues.

Beginning with an in-depth critique of the concept of the isolated individual mind, Stolorow and Atwood argue that this myth has long obstructed recognition of the intersubjective foundations of psychological life. The authors then proceed to a series of chapters that reframe, from the standpoint of intersubjectivity theory, basic assumptions of the psychoanalytic theory of mental life.  Concluding chapters on "varieties of therapeutic alliance" and "varieties of therapeutic impasse" further exemplify the ability of intersubjectivity theory to reorient the psychoanalytic therapist, thus providing fresh strategies for understanding and addressing the most challenging clinical contingencies.

Contexts of Being is the conceptual culmination of Stolorow and Atwood's earlier studies, giving them a forum to explain why the perspective of intersubjectivity cannot be reduced to a clinical sensibility that can be grafted onto existing psychoanalytic theory. Rather, the authors argue, the intersubjective perspective has methodological and epistemological implications that mandate a radical revision of all aspects of psychoanalytic thought. Not only a cogent elaboration of these implications, the volume is also an important first step in effecting the sweeping revision that follows from them.

Review

"This book succeeds admirably in describing an important new viewpoint in psychoanalysis in an easily accessible way.  Whatever one's view of the intersubjective approach, this volume ensures that view can be based on its lucid exposition."

- Robert Galatzer-Levy, M.D., International Journal of Psychoanalysis