Against Understanding, Volume 1

Commentary and Critique in a Lacanian Key

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Mental Health
Cover of the book Against Understanding, Volume 1 by Bruce Fink, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Bruce Fink ISBN: 9781134516063
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: October 8, 2013
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Bruce Fink
ISBN: 9781134516063
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: October 8, 2013
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

2014 American Board & Academy of Psychoanalysis Book Prize winner for Best Anthology

Against Understanding, Volume 1, explores how the process of understanding (which can be seen to be part and parcel of the Lacanian dimension of the imaginary) reduces the unfamiliar to the familiar, transforms the radically other into the same, and renders practitioners deaf to what is actually being said in the analytic setting. Running counter to the received view in virtually all of contemporary psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, Bruce Fink argues that the current obsession with understanding – on the patient’s part as well as on the clinician’s – is excessive insofar as the most essential aim of psychoanalytic treatment is change.

Using numerous case studies and clinical vignettes, Fink illustrates that the ability of clinicians to detect the unconscious through slips of the tongue, slurred speech, mixed metaphors, and other instances of "misspeaking" is compromised by an emphasis on understanding the why and wherefore of patients’ symptoms and behavior patterns. He shows that the dogged search for conscious knowledge about those symptoms and patterns, by patients and practitioners alike, often thwart rather than foster change, which requires ongoing access to the unconscious and extensive work with it.

In this first part of a two-volume collection of papers, many of which have never before appeared in print, Bruce Fink provides ample evidence of the curative powers of speech that operate without the need for any sort of explicit, articulated knowledge. Against Understanding, Volume 1 brings Lacanian theory alive in a way that is unique, demonstrating the therapeutic force of a technique that relies far more on the virtues of speech in the analytic setting than on a conscious realization about anything whatsoever on patients’ parts. This volume will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and counselors.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

2014 American Board & Academy of Psychoanalysis Book Prize winner for Best Anthology

Against Understanding, Volume 1, explores how the process of understanding (which can be seen to be part and parcel of the Lacanian dimension of the imaginary) reduces the unfamiliar to the familiar, transforms the radically other into the same, and renders practitioners deaf to what is actually being said in the analytic setting. Running counter to the received view in virtually all of contemporary psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, Bruce Fink argues that the current obsession with understanding – on the patient’s part as well as on the clinician’s – is excessive insofar as the most essential aim of psychoanalytic treatment is change.

Using numerous case studies and clinical vignettes, Fink illustrates that the ability of clinicians to detect the unconscious through slips of the tongue, slurred speech, mixed metaphors, and other instances of "misspeaking" is compromised by an emphasis on understanding the why and wherefore of patients’ symptoms and behavior patterns. He shows that the dogged search for conscious knowledge about those symptoms and patterns, by patients and practitioners alike, often thwart rather than foster change, which requires ongoing access to the unconscious and extensive work with it.

In this first part of a two-volume collection of papers, many of which have never before appeared in print, Bruce Fink provides ample evidence of the curative powers of speech that operate without the need for any sort of explicit, articulated knowledge. Against Understanding, Volume 1 brings Lacanian theory alive in a way that is unique, demonstrating the therapeutic force of a technique that relies far more on the virtues of speech in the analytic setting than on a conscious realization about anything whatsoever on patients’ parts. This volume will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and counselors.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Atlas of the World's Deserts by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book State-Nationalisms in the Ottoman Empire, Greece and Turkey by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book Managing Extreme Behaviours in the Early Years by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book Human Security, Changing States and Global Responses by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book World Politics by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book The Fiscal Crisis of the State by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book Buddies by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book Democracy Online by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book Women in the Housing Service by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book Informal Norms in Global Governance by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book The Routledge Companion to Music, Mind, and Well-being by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book Social Metacognition by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book Communication Yearbook 27 by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book Work Stress by Bruce Fink
Cover of the book The Liberalisation of Public Procurement and its Effects on the Common Market by Bruce Fink
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy