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Linking Objects and Linking Phenomena: A Study of the Forms, Symptoms, Metapsychology, and Therapy of Complicated Mourning

Author(s) : Vamik D. Volkan

Reviews and Endorsements

'Linking Objects and Linking Phenomena is a classic of the clinical psychoanalytic literature on pathological mourning. Vamık Volkan’s diagnostic distinctions and grief therapy innovations have helped innumerable patients over the years. But why now reissue this book? Could it be that, with so many losses all around us – and so many efforts to compensate for them in destructive ways – there are truths in this book to be re-learned and developed for our time? In his later work with groups in conflict, Volkan describes “chosen trauma” – the way that historical trauma shapes large-group identity toward future disaster – as an “infection of the mourning process.” Is it time now to look again at the dynamics of pathological mourning, writ large in our current era, and to mine this book for insights that might help both our patients and our communities?'
M. Gerard Fromm, Ph.D., Distinguished Faculty Member, Erikson Institute, Austen Riggs Center; Fellow, American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis

'In a time when neuroscience is finally catching up with the study of the grieving brain, Dr. Volkan’s classic work with patients suffering from pathological mourning is more relevant than ever. Concepts like the “linking objects,” which unconsciously keep the mental representation of the lost person alive, or the notion of “perennial mourners” unable to resolve their ambivalence to the lost person, are important for the understanding and treatment of complicated mourning. A future neuropsychoanalytic comprehension of the pain over the loss of our loved ones requires an examination of its impact on both our brain and soul.'
Jose Fernando Muñoz Zúñiga, neuropsychiatrist and psychoanalyst; Associate Editor, Neuropsychoanalysis

'I read the original 1981 publication as a trainee counsellor in the 1990s so was interested to re-read this latest edition. It is an exceptionally well-written synthesis of theory, case studies and personal reflections based on 15 years of research at the University of Virginia. Volkan, now in his 90s, has written a new preface in which he shares the early experiences that led to his interest in blocked mourning. Originally written at a time when psychoanalytic treatments were growing in popularity and were more freely available, there is a refreshing evangelical energy in Volkan's writing. The descriptions of ambivalence - how it feels to love and hate the same person, or know someone is dead but think they are alive - are the most helpful I have ever read. The chapters on Volkan's innovative re-grief therapy and use of photos and other linking objects are as relevant today as they were then [...] This book is essential reading for bereavement work but also a useful resource for all counsellors working with loss.'
Therapy Today, Jane Cooper MBACP (Snr Accred), March 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2