Current Issue: Volume 8, Number 2
The full table of contents are available here.
The Organismic Otherness of Being, by Margaret Crastnopol, PhD
- Commentaries:
- Gray Cloth: Discussion of Margaret Crastnopol’s The Organismic Otherness of Being, by Kenneth A. Frank, PhD
- Other to Ourselves: Commentary on Margaret Crastnopol’s The Organismic Otherness of Being, by Melanie Suchet, PhD
Margaret Crastnopol, PhD, invites the reader to look at topics not often addressed in the psychoanalytic literature. She considers the role temperament, cognitive style, and other biological determinants play in understanding development and functioning, as well as how we address this in the treatment. This paper features case vignettes and theoretical exploration of the idea that much of our sense of self can be enigmatic and happen at the biophysiologic level of existence, where it can’t be seen or known directly. Kenneth A. Frank, PhD, and Margaret Suchet, PhD, both raise some important questions about the author’s controversial premise, and they provide an opportunity for further elaboration and clarification when Crastnopol responds.
Between Denial and Witnessing: Psychoanalysis and Clinical Practice in the Israeli Context, by
Chana Ullman
- Commentaries:
- Response to Chana Ullman’s Paper, Between Denial and Witnessing, by Neil Altman, PhD
- Acknowledgement of Collective Trauma in Light of Dissociation and Dehumanization, by Jessica Benjamin, PhD
- “Forget the Palestinians, You Are Our Mother:” Why Therapists Should Not Be Dead Right with their Patients, by Aner Govrin, PhD
Chana Ullman, PhD, addresses some of the dilemmas facing psychotherapists practicing within a sociopolitical context of ongoing trauma. This paper asks the fascinating question of what it means to be in an ethical relationship not only with our patients but also with the larger sociopolitical context in which we function. She provides glimpses into this dilemma to elucidate conflicts of belonging, identity, and trauma, when they intermingle in the clinic and beyond. In his commentary, Neil Altman, PhD, extends some of his important thinking in this area and considers why psychoanalysts ignore the political context in their work. Jessica Benjamin, PhD, elaborates on Ullman’s themes and applies her own understanding of the concept of witnessing to this troubled region. Israeli Analyst Aner Govrin, PhD, shares his different perspective on these issues, which prompts Ullman to respond to these commentaries by taking on the challenge of finding a “third” position from which to address Govrin’s rebuttal.
The Bad Father, The Sinful Son, and The Wild Ghost: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of the Dybbuk, by Galit Atlas-Koch, PhD
Israeli-American psychoanalyst Gail Atlas-Koch, PhD, graces us with an unusual and stirring treatise on a contemporary clinical application of ancient Jewish folklore. Based on a fascinating case, the author explores the meaning ghosts can have in our lives and how they can impact our functioning.
Book Review: Mystical Object Relations: A Review of Michael Eigen’s Flames From the Unconscious
An Interview with Michael Eigen
Jan C. Niemira, LCSW, reviews Michael Eigen’s book and interviews him about this exciting work and other aspects of Eigen’s thinking and life. The book is organized a series of intertwined and interrelated threads and reads as a complex tapestry of ideas, exploring ever-richer aspects of the unknown. In the interview, Niemira follows up on these topics with Eigen and offers the reader an intimate conversation with one of psychoanalysis’ great minds.
Creative Literary
Love Calls
Editor Bonnie Zindel showcases some of the finest selections received by the journal’s call for submissions, Love Calls. This issue features poetry and short stories, which explore various types of love including pure love, a mother’s love for her child, and a therapist helping a couple fall back into love. Due to the enormous response of submissions, the journal is pleased to announce it will be publishing Love Calls, Part 2, in the Spring 2012 issue.
Private Lives
Mindy Lewis, frequent Editorial Consultant, contributes to our Private Lives section with a moving piece in which the author explores her long relationship with, Dr. L, the psychiatrist she was sent to as a teenager.
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