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Psychoanalysis in Social and Cultural Settings examines the theory and practice of psychoanalysis with patients who have experienced deeply traumatic experiences through war, forced migrations, atrocities and other social and cultural dislocations.
The book is divided into three main sections covering terrorism, refugees and traumatisation, with another two focusing specifically on transcultural issues regarding establishing psychoanalysis in China and on research related to themes outlined in the book. Major key psychoanalytic themes run through the work, focusing on identity and the self, fundamentalism, resilience, dehumanisation, cultural differences and enactment.
Offering key theory and clinical guidance for working with highly traumatised patients, this book will be essential for all psychoanalysts and therapists working with victims of terrorism, war and other deeply traumatic life events.
List of contents
Part I: Social terror; 1.Terror and mourning in Norway; 2. Psychoanalysis and the situation of refugees. A Human Rights perspective; 3. Genocide and ethnic cleansing: Psychoanalytic and social-psychological viewpoints; 4. Humiliation and the victim identity in conditions of political and violent conflict; 5. Fundamentalist mindset;
Part II: The situation of refugees: The enigma of traumatisation; 6.Our relations to refugees: Between compassion and dehumanization; 7. The present past: Extreme traumatisation and psychotherapy; 8. The influence of extreme traumatisation on body, mind and social relations; 9. Psychoanalysis with the traumatised patient: Helping to survive extreme experiences and complicated loss;
Part III: Research; 10. When dreaming doesn't work: traumatic dreams, anxiety and the capacity to symbolise; 11. "The essay method": A qualitative method for studying therapeutic dialogues;
Part IV: Psychoanalysis in China: A transformative dialogue; 12. "Yu Hua: A narrator of Chinese recent history"; 13. Western-Eastern differences in habits and ways of thinking: The influence on understanding, and teaching psychoanalytic therapy
About the author
Sverre Varvin is a training analyst at the Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society and professor emeritus at Oslo Metropolitan University. He has extensive experience in research and clinical work with severely traumatised people. He is a leading person in the development of psychoanalytic therapy in China as chair of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) China Committee.
Summary
Psychoanalysis in Social and Cultural Settings examines the theory and practice of psychoanalysis with patients who have experienced deeply traumatic experiences, through war, forced migration, atrocities and other social and cultural dislocations.
