In Leaps and Bounds: Psychic Development and its Facilitation in Treatment

Author(s) : Salman Akhtar

In Leaps and Bounds: Psychic Development and its Facilitation in Treatment

Book Details

  • Publisher : Phoenix Publishing House
  • Published : May 2022
  • Cover : Paperback
  • Pages : 206
  • Category :
    Psychoanalysis
  • Catalogue No : 96247
  • ISBN 13 : 9781912691913
  • ISBN 10 : 9781912691
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Salman Akhtar presents three rich essays brimming with psychoanalytic theory on personality development and how such knowledge enhances treatment. Essay 1 starts at the earliest infancy and takes the reader all along the path past adolescence. It addresses key developmental landmarks, including:

Establishing a satisfactory parental bond

Moving towards autonomy and independence

Acquiring a moral sense

Consolidating identity.

Essay 2 picks up after adolescence. It addresses the psychosocial challenges characteristic of young adulthood, midlife, and old age, such as:

Assuming the role of a wage-earner and “house-holder”

Enjoying sex, love, and marriage

Downsizing and retiring from one’s job

Dealing with the deaths of friends and family and facing one’s own mortality.

Essay 3 builds upon the theory that has gone before and examines how a deepened understanding of psychic development can inform the clinician’s approach. With an emphasis on development as a lifelong process, this essay provides clear guidelines for facilitating such growth, including:

Creating psychic space for thinking

Helping the patient find words for inner experiences

Validating the patient’s reality

Enhancing the sense of personal agency in the patient.

The complex tapestry woven by these three essays is extended by a prologue and an epilogue. The prologue opens with the “pre-self” – events before birth that impact on who we become. The epilogue discusses the “post-self” – how we “live on” as memories held by those who knew us.

In Leaps and Bounds deepens the understanding of the nuances of human development. It is key reading for practising and trainee psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists to enhance their clinical practice. It is highly recommended for all enquiring minds looking to expand their knowledge of what makes us who we are.

About the Author(s)

Salman Akhtar, MD, was born in India and completed his medical and psychiatric education there. Upon arriving in the USA in 1973, he repeated his psychiatric training at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and then obtained psychoanalytic training from the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute. Currently, he is Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and a training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has authored, edited or co-edited more than 300 publications including books on psychiatry and psychoanalysis and several collections of poetry. He is also a Scholar-in-Residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia. Salman Akhtar received the Sigourney Award in 2012.

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