The Surviving Object: Psychoanalytic Clinical Essays on Psychic Survival-of-the-Object

Author(s) : Jan Abram

Part of New Library of Psychoanalysis series - more in this series

The Surviving Object: Psychoanalytic Clinical Essays on Psychic Survival-of-the-Object

Book Details

  • Publisher : Routledge
  • Published : September 2021
  • Cover : Paperback
  • Pages : 186
  • Category :
    Psychoanalysis
  • Catalogue No : 95909
  • ISBN 13 : 9781032075181
  • ISBN 10 : 9781032075
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In this book, Abram proposes and elaborates the dual concept of an intrapsychic surviving and non surviving object and examines how psychic survival-of-the-object places the early m/Other at the centre of the nascent psyche before innate factors are relevant.

Abram's clinical-theoretical elaborations advance several of Winnicott's key concepts. Moreover, the clinical illustrations show how her advances arise out of the transference-countertransference matrix of the analyzing situation. Chapter by chapter the reader witnesses the evolution of her proposals that not only enhance an appreciation of Winnicott's original clinical paradigm but also demonstrate how much more there is to glean from his texts especially in the contemporary consulting room. The Surviving Object comprises eight chapters covering themes such as: the incommunicado self; violation of the self; the paradox of communication; terror at the roots of non survival; an implicit theory of desire; the fear of WOMAN underlying misogyny; the meaning of infantile sexuality; the 'father in the nursing mother's mind' as an 'integrate' in the nascent psyche; formlessness preceding integration; a theory of madness.

The volume will appeal to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically-informed psychotherapists of all levels who are inspired by clinical psychoanalysis and the study of human nature.

Reviews and Endorsements

"In her new book, Jan Abram continues the impressive endeavour to explore, discuss and develop the work of D. W. Winnicott. This time her personal voice is stronger. By offering the reader an Ariadne thread, through her clinical innovation of the intrapsychic surviving and non surviving objects, she takes the reader on a journey through the complexity of Winnicott’s work, and her own reflections of its clinical and theoretical implications. She includes an abundance of examples from her clinical work, and a continuous dialogue with other psychoanalytic writers. This makes Abram’s contribution not only helpful to the understanding of Winnicott, but also to several of the most important discussions in contemporary psychoanalysis."- Sølvi Kristiansen, Training and Supervising Analyst; Past President, The Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society

"Jan Abram has made this marvellous achievement showing that DW Winnicott's two-person psychology is three-dimensional, following her inspiring meeting with André Green. To illustrate her psychoanalytic journey, she makes heuristic use of Japanese Ukiyo-e so that readers may enjoy viewing the transient and transitional object together while learning from the author, and in the end, shall realize the object has survived intrapsychically." - Osamu Kitayama, Training and Supervising Analyst & Past President Japan Psychoanalytic Society

"In The Surviving Object, Jan Abram, the foremost Winnicott scholar writing today, discusses the way Winnicott reinvents the meanings of words as he goes, and uses the unique language he creates to convey understandings that analytic writing has never previously held. In this new work, she presents her own clinical work, which is strongly rooted in Winnicott’s thinking, but is uniquely her own. She speaks with her patients in a way that is sometimes calming, sometimes confrontational, sometimes stunningly insightful, but always profoundly personal and humane. This is an extraordinary book that must not be missed." - Thomas Ogden, author most recently of Reclaiming Unlived Life and Creative Readings: Essays on Seminal Analytic Works.

"The Surviving Object is a significant milestone in understanding the richness of Winnicott’s contributions to psychoanalysis. Jan Abram, a leading exponent of Winnicott’s work, traces the evolution of his central concepts, with the detailed grasp of them for which she is known. She also traces how her own understanding of them has developed over time and found expression in her clinical work. Winnicott’s ideas are carried forward in the process, and their links to French psychoanalysis in particular are valuably explored. This book is both an extremely useful survey of Winnicott’s thought and a creative elaboration of it." - Michael Parsons, author of Living Psychoanalysis: From Theory to Experience

About the Author(s)

Jan Abram is a training and supervising analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society in private practice in London. She is the author of The Language of Winnicott (awarded Outstanding Academic Book of the Year; 2nd edition 2007) and editor of Donald Winnicott Today (nominee for a Gradiva Award, 2013). She is currently visiting professor University College London. Her forthcoming book is a collection of her clinical papers, The Surviving Object.

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