Absolute Truth and Unbearable Psychic Pain: Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Concrete Experience (CIPS (Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies) Boundaries of Psychoanalysis)

The title of this book refers to a particular construction of the world that brooks no uncertainty: 'things are the way I believe them to be'. There is no other way! This can be a real boost to one's confidence - even though this conviction is based solely on our own thoughts or immediate experience. When a group or organization share a one-dimensional view of the world the sense of conviction takes the form of a rigid ideology; and all other perspectives must be eliminated. The counterpart to concreteness, or what many refer to as desymbolized thinking/experience or thing - presentations, i. Read more... COVER CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE EDITOR AND CONTRIBUTORS SERIES EDITOR'S PREFACE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE Concretisation, reflective thought, and the emissary function of the dream CHAPTER TWO Content and process in the treatment of concrete patients CHAPTER THREE Transitional organising experience in analytic process: movements towards symbolising space via the dyad CHAPTER FOUR Enactment: opportunity for symbolising trauma CHAPTER FIVE The bureaucratisation of thought and language in groups and organisations. CHAPTER SIX Painting poppies: on the relationship between concrete and metaphorical thinkingCHAPTER SEVEN When words fail CHAPTER EIGHT Some observations about working with body narcissism with concrete patients INDEX. Symbolization refers to a process whereby we can meaningfully understand that an event can be looked at from a variety of perspectives. This book refers to a particular construction of the world that brooks no uncertainty: 'things are the way I believe them to be'. This book offers a wealth of original contributions, all promising steps towards a fuller understanding of the phenomenon of "concreteness" and towards more effective approaches to the clinical challenges concreteness poses.