The Half-Alive Ones

by Seligman, Eva

• ISBN13: 9781855753747
• ISBN10: 185575374X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 7/30/2006
• Publisher: KARNAC BOOKS

Summary

The Half-Alive Ones consists of nine clinical and two theoretical papers. The book celebrates almost fifty years of therapeutic work. It depicts some of the author's most poignant professional experiences, both personal and collective. The author, who sees herself as an eclectic Jungian, gives an account in the book of a flexible approach to analysis and therapy, which reveals itself in her case studies. In part, her adaptations within her practice have evolved out of our changing civilization. These adaptations require a diversified approach from patient to patient, which cannot be accommodated within only one traditional conceptual framework. The case studies demonstrate that the author rarely works with single persons who are ill by themselves. She finds it more fruitful to perceive and treat them as part of a total situation, which they bring into the consulting room: family of origin, work situation, and part or current significant relationships. Jung wrote: 'Each case is individual and not derivable from any preconceived formula. Each is a new experiment of life in her ever-changing moods and an attempt at a new solution or new adaptation.' Eva Seligman attempts to confirm her deep-felt belief that good listening, sensitive timing, versatility, and evaluation of the other's truth, are indispensable ingredients of every therapeutic hour. Analysis is but an arid endeavor without compassion and creativity. The appendices consist of a selection of book reviews and some anonymous letters from patients in which they express their own plight in their own words.

Author Biography

Eva Seligman is a training analyst of the Society of Analytical Psychology

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS	ix
ABOUT THE AUTHOR	xi
PREFACE by Joseph Redfearn	xiii
CHAPTER ONE The case for a versatile approach to analytical practice	1	(16)
CHAPTER TWO The half-alive ones	17	(24)
CHAPTER THREE A psychological study of anorexia nervosa: an account of the relationship between psychic factors and bodily functioning	41	(18)
CHAPTER FOUR Relationships and the growth of personality Co-written with colleagues at the Family Discussion Bureau	59	(24)
CHAPTER FIVE An approach to marital therapy	83	(10)
CHAPTER SIX Working with a couple	93	(8)
CHAPTER SEVEN The therapeutic moment: reflections on the importance of freedom of communication	101	(8)
CHAPTER EIGHT Some thoughts on stagnation and resuscitation in analytic work	109	(18)
CHAPTER NINE On death and survival	127	(4)
CHAPTER TEN "Experts in mothercraft"	131	(4)
APPENDIX I: Book reviews	135	(16)
APPENDIX II: Unedited communications from patients	151	(6)
REFERENCES	157	(4)
INDEX	161