In this major contribution to contemporary psychoanalysis, Stanley Coen illuminates a heretofore undescribed character structure especially resistant to analytic process. Pathologically dependent patients, for Coen, are identified not by surface character traits, but by their response to the intrapsychic demands of analysis. Such patients remain in treatment, sometimes contentedly, sometimes amid rebukes and complaints, but they do not profit from it. Their inability to use insight, especially in the transference, is matched by a proclivity for sadomasochistic enmeshment. In analysis, this tendency translates into a continuing dependent attachment to the analyst.

In exploring the genetic roots of pathological dependency, Coen ranges beyond extant trauma theories in describing a pattern of parent-child interaction in which repetitive behavioral enactments substitute for the acceptance and resolution of conflicts, both intrapsychic and interpersonal. In analysis, pathologically dependent patients use the analyst as they have come to use significant others throughout their lives: as part of a defensive structure characterized by repetitive enactments and a refusal to face what is wrong with them. This "misuse of others" is infused with destructiveness, hostility, and rage, and the analyst necessarily becomes the object of these powerful emotions. With such patients, then, the road to therapeutic progress invariably passes through the analysis of mutual transferential and countertransferential hate, the patient's tempting invitations to collusion and avoidance notwithstanding.

About the Author

Stanley J. Coen, M.D., is Training and Supervising Analyst, Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Coen is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

Bingo Books 2
WA, U.S.A.

Sale & Shipping Terms

Terms of Sale

If book is not as described you may return it for a refund within 30 days.
Sam Briggs dba Bingo Books 2
13016 NE 37th Court
Vancouver, WA 98686
bingobooks2@aol.com
503-231-4091

Shipping Terms

Orders usually ship within 2 business days. All orders shipped via USPS. Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required. Seller does not accept responsibility for orders that other vendors request to have drop shipped to a third party address.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.
Order quantity	5 to 15 business days	3 to 7 business days
First item	US$ 6.29	US$ 11.99

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.