Challenging the Fantasy Bond A Search for Personal Identity and Freedom

by Firestone, Robert W.

• ISBN13: 9781433835810
• ISBN10: 1433835819
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781433835827
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2022-02-15
• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• More Book Details

Summary

This much-anticipated follow-up to the critically-acclaimed and bestselling The Fantasy Bond tackles the complex question of why so many of us are compelled to repeat the pain of our past while avoiding positive experiences that could enrich our lives.
 
Why are many of us compelled to repeat the pain of our past, while avoiding positive experiences that could enrich our lives? In this thought-provoking book, clinical psychologist and theorist Robert Firestone explains how the fantasy bond, an illusion of connection, develops early in childhood to cope with the pain and frustration resulting from parental misattunement, neglect or mistreatment. It is manifested as a destructive internal thought process, the critical inner voice. Later, the fantasy bond is extended to family members, intimate partners, and social groups. In Challenging the FantasyBond, Dr. Firestone presents his latest thoughts and observations about the self-defeating aspects of this process and places the original concepts in the broader context of his overall theoretical approach, Separation Theory.
 
Compelling case studies illustrate how the critical inner voice causes considerable pain and discomfort and interferes with intimacy. These case studies demonstrate how Voice Therapy, a cognitive/affective/behavioral methodology, can be used to counteract these destructive internal messages and help individuals embrace the present, instead of reliving the past. Challenging our illusions of a merged identity and moving toward separation and individuation are essential if we are to become fully autonomous human beings. This companion to a classic work is particularly timely in its identification of the existential fears that contribute to prejudice, political divisiveness and ethnic strife.       

Author Biography

Robert W. Firestone, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and author whose principle focus has been the subject of resistance in psychotherapy and people’s resistance to a better life in general. His comprehensive body of written work elucidates how the avoidance of the true nature of the human condition contributes to interpersonal pain and suffering as well as to the crisis of fellowship in which we, as a species, find ourselves. Dr. Firestone is the author of fifteen other books including Voice Therapy, Compassionate Child-Rearing, Fear of Intimacy, The Self Under Siege, The Ethics of Interpersonal Relationships, Beyond Death Anxiety, and The Enemy Within.  
 
Dr. Firestone is the consulting theorist for The Glendon Association. His studies on negative thought processes and their associated affect have led to the development of Voice Therapy, a therapeutic methodology used to uncover and contend with aspects of self-destructive and self-limiting behaviors. The concept of the critical inner voice has been applied to empirical research, developing The Firestone Assessment of Self-destructive Thoughts (FAST) and The Firestone Assessment of Violent Thoughts (FAVT), scales that assess the potential for suicide and violence. Dr. Firestone has also produced 35 documentaries with The Glendon Association.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Foreword to the Current Edition by Phillip R. Shaver and Mario Mikulincer

Foreword to the First Edition by R. D. Laing

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I: Introduction to the Fantasy Bond

Chapter 1. The Fantasy Bond and Separation Theory

Chapter 2. The Fantasy Bond in the Couple and Family

Part II: Dimensions of the Fantasy Bond

Chapter 3. Idealization of Parents and the Family

Chapter 4. The Negative Self Concept

Chapter 5. Projection and Incorporation of Parents' Negative Traits

Part III: Behavioral Manifestations of the Fantasy Bond

Chapter 6. Inwardness and the Loss of Feeling

Chapter 7. Withholding

Chapter 8. Self-Nourishing Habits and Addictions

Chapter 9. Individuation, Regression and the Fantasy Bond

Chapter 10. Sexuality

Part IV: Implications for Psychotherapy

Chapter 11. My Approach to Psychotherapy

Chapter 12. Voice Therapy

Part V:​ Theoretical Issues

Chapter 11. Death Anxiety

Chapter 12. Society and Conformity

Chapter 13. Polarization, Prejudice and Ethnic Warfare

References