The Dove that Returns, The Dove that Vanishes: Paradox and Creativity in Psychoanalysis

by Parsons; Michael

• ISBN13: 9780415211826
• ISBN10: 0415211824
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2000-08-11
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The nature of psychoanalysis seems contradictory - deeply personal, subjective and intuitive, yet requiring systematic theory and principles of technique. In The Dove that Returns, The Dove that Vanishes, Michael Parsons explores the tension of this paradox. As they respond to it and struggle to sustain creatively, analysts discover their individual identities. The work of outstanding clinicians such as Marion Milner and John Klauber is examined in detail. The reader also encounters oriental martial arts, greek Tragedy, the landscape painting of John Constable, a Winnicottian theory of creativity and a discussion of the significance of play in psychoanalysis. From such varied topics evolves a deepening apprehension of the nature of the clinical experience. Illustrated throughout , The Dove that Returns, The Dove that Vanisheswill prove valuable to those in the field of psychoanalysis, and to those in the arts and humanities who are interested in contemporary psychoanalytic thinking.

Author Biography

Michael Parsons is a training analyst of the British Psycho-Analytical Society

Table of Contents

List of figures	x
Acknowledgements	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
Part I Rigour and freedom	7	(80)
Vocation and martial art	9	(14)
The other in the self	23	(12)
Suddenly finding it really matters	35	(17)
Refinding theory in clinical practice	52	(17)
Psychoanalytic and personal identity: the garden of forking paths	69	(18)
Part II Loss, acceptance, creativity	87	(100)
Self-knowledge refused and accepted: Euripides' Bacchae and Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus	89	(16)
The Oedipus complex as a lifelong developmental process: Sophocles' Trachiniae	105	(23)
The logic of play	128	(18)
Creativity, psychoanalytic and artistic	146	(25)
Psychic reality, negation and the analytic setting	171	(16)
Conclusion	187	(15)
The dove that returns, the dove that vanishes	189	(13)
Bibliography	202	(13)
Name index	215	(4)
Subject index	219