Unformulated Experience

From Dissociation to Imagination in Psychoanalysis

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Applied Psychology, Psychotherapy
Cover of the book Unformulated Experience by Donnel B. Stern, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Donnel B. Stern ISBN: 9781135060688
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: June 17, 2013
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Donnel B. Stern
ISBN: 9781135060688
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: June 17, 2013
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

In this powerful and wonderfully accessible meditation on psychoanalysis, hermeneutics, and social constructivism, Donnel Stern explores the relationship between two fundamental kinds of experience: explicit verbal reflection and "unformulated experience," or experience we have not yet reflected on and put into words. Stern is especially concerned with the process by which we come to formulate the unformulated. It is not an instrumental task, he holds, but one that requires openness and curiosity; the result of the process is not accuracy alone, but experience that is deeply felt and fully imagined.

Stern's sense of explicit verbal experience as continuously constructed and emergent leads to a central dialectic at the heart of his work: that between curiosity and imagination, on one hand, and dissociation and unthinking acceptance of the familiar on the other. The goal of psychoanalytic work, he holds, is the freedom to be curious, whereas defense signifies the denial of this freedom. We defend against our fear of what we would think, that is, if we allowed ourselves the freedom to think it.

Stern also shows how the unconscious itself can be reconceptualized hermeneutically, and he goes on to explore the implications of this viewpoint on interpretation and countertransference. He is especially persuasive in showing how the interpersonal field, which is continuously in flux, limits the experience that it is possible for participants to reflect on. Thus it is that analyst and patient are together "caught in the grip of the field," often unable to see the kind of relatedness in which they are mutually involved.

A brilliant demonstration of the clinical consequentiality of hermeneutic thinking, Unformulated Experience bears out Stern's belief that psychoanalysis is as much about the revelation of the new in experience as it is about the discovery of the old

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

In this powerful and wonderfully accessible meditation on psychoanalysis, hermeneutics, and social constructivism, Donnel Stern explores the relationship between two fundamental kinds of experience: explicit verbal reflection and "unformulated experience," or experience we have not yet reflected on and put into words. Stern is especially concerned with the process by which we come to formulate the unformulated. It is not an instrumental task, he holds, but one that requires openness and curiosity; the result of the process is not accuracy alone, but experience that is deeply felt and fully imagined.

Stern's sense of explicit verbal experience as continuously constructed and emergent leads to a central dialectic at the heart of his work: that between curiosity and imagination, on one hand, and dissociation and unthinking acceptance of the familiar on the other. The goal of psychoanalytic work, he holds, is the freedom to be curious, whereas defense signifies the denial of this freedom. We defend against our fear of what we would think, that is, if we allowed ourselves the freedom to think it.

Stern also shows how the unconscious itself can be reconceptualized hermeneutically, and he goes on to explore the implications of this viewpoint on interpretation and countertransference. He is especially persuasive in showing how the interpersonal field, which is continuously in flux, limits the experience that it is possible for participants to reflect on. Thus it is that analyst and patient are together "caught in the grip of the field," often unable to see the kind of relatedness in which they are mutually involved.

A brilliant demonstration of the clinical consequentiality of hermeneutic thinking, Unformulated Experience bears out Stern's belief that psychoanalysis is as much about the revelation of the new in experience as it is about the discovery of the old

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The African Union by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Identity and Foreign Policy by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Secularisation, Pentecostalism and Violence by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book The Photography Teacher's Handbook by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book The Australian Country Girl: History, Image, Experience by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book God and the Multiverse by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Progressive Reading Education in America by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book New Frontiers in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Berlin by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Expertise and Technology by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Managing Public Sport and Leisure Services by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Personal Project Pursuit by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Causes and Consequences of International Conflict by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Dialectics and Contemporary Politics by Donnel B. Stern
Cover of the book Organizations Connected by Donnel B. Stern
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