In this book, Lawrence J. Brown offers a contemporary perspective on how the mind transforms, and gives meaning to, emotional experience that arises unconsciously in the here-and-now of the clinical hour. Brown surveys the developments in theory and practice that follow from Freud’s original observations and traces this evolution from its conception to contemporary analytic field theory.
Brown emphasizes that these unconscious transformational processes occur spontaneously, in the blink of an eye, through the “unconscious work” in which the analyst and patient are engaged. Though unconscious, these processes are accessible and the analyst must train himself to become aware of the subtle ways he is affected by the patient in the clinical moment. By paying attention to one’s reveries, countertransference manifestations and even supposed “wild” or extraneous thoughts, the analyst is able to obtain a glimpse of how his unconscious is transforming the ambient emotions of the session in order to formulate an interpretation.
Brown casts a wide theoretical net in his exploration of these transformational processes and builds on the contributions of Freud, Theodor Reik, Bion, Ogden, the Barangers, Cassorla, Civitarese and Ferro. Bion’s theories of alpha function, transformations, dreaming and his clinical emphasis on the present moment are foundational to this book. Brown’s writing is clear and aims to describe the various theoretical ideas as plainly as possible. Detailed clinical material is given in most chapters to illustrate the theoretical perspectives. Brown applies this theory of transformational processes to a variety of topics, including the analyst’s receptivity, countertransference as transformation, the analytic setting, the paintings of J.M.W. Turner, “autistic transformations” and other clinical situations in the analysis of children and adults.
Transformational Processes in Clinical Psychoanalysis will be of great interest to all psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists.
Lawrence J. Brown trained in adult and child psychoanalysis and is a faculty member and supervising child analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute (BPSI), USA. He is also a supervising and personal analyst at the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis. Brown has lectured internationally and published papers on a variety of topics, including the Oedipal situation, Bion, intersubjectivity, field theory and autistic phenomena.
PSYCHOANALYTIC IDEAS AND APPLICATIONS SERIES
IPA Publications Committee
Gennaro Saragnano (Rome), Chair and General Editor; Leticia Glocer Fiorini (Buenos Aires), Consultant; Samuel Arbiser (Buenos Aires); Paulo Cesar Sandler (São Paulo); Christian Seulin (Lyon); Mary Kay O’Neil (Montreal); Gail S. Reed (New York); Catalina Bronstein (London); Rhoda Bawdekar (London), Ex-officio as Publications Officer; Paul Crake (London): IPA Executive Director (ex-officio)
Recent titles in the Series include
Art in Psychoanalysis: A Contemporary Approach to Creativity and Analytic Practice
edited by Gabriela Goldsteunb
The Female Body: Inside and Outside
edited by Ingrid Moeslein-Teising and Frances Thomson-Salo
Death and Identity: Being and the Psycho-Sexual Drama
Michel de M’Uzan
Unpresented States and the Construction of Meaning: Clinical and Theoretical Contributions
edited by Howard B. Levine and Gail S. Reed
The Ethical Seduction of the Analytic Situation: The Feminine–Maternal Origins of Responsibility for the Other
Viviane Chetrit-Vatine
Time for Change: Tracking Transformations in Psychoanalysis— The Three-Level Model and fufu
edited by Marina Altmann de Litvan
Hostile and Malignant Prejudice: Psychoanalytic Approaches
edited by Cyril Levitt
Freud and Culture
Eric Smadja
Play, Gender, Therapy: Selected Papers of Eleanor Galenson
edited by Nellie L. Thompson
Psychopathology of Work: Clinical Observations
edited by Christophe Dejours
Finding the Body in the Mind: Embodied Memories, Trauma, and Depression
Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber
The Future of Psychoanalysis: The Debate about the Training Analyst System
edited by Peter Zagermann
The Analytical Process: Journeys and Pathways
Thierry Bokanowski
Psychotic Organisation of the Personality: Psychoanalytic Keys
Antonio Perez-Sanchez
Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Virtual Intimacy and Communication in Film
edited by Andrea Sabbadini, Ilany Kogan and Paola Golinelli
Transformational Processes in Clinical Psychoanalysis: Dreaming, Emotions and the Present Moment
Lawrence J. Brown