The Psychoanalysis of the Absurd; Existentialism and Phenomenology in Contemporary Psychoanalysis; First Edition

__The Psychoanalysis of the Absurd__ offers an interdisciplinary study of Existentialism and Phenomenology and their importance to the clinical work of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. The concept of Absurdity, developed by Camus, has never been applied to the therapeutic situation or directly contrasted with its antithesis; the search for personal meaning. The book begins with narrative accounts of the historical development of Psychoanalysis, Existentialism and Phenomenology in 20th century Europe. The focus here is on fin de siècle Vienna and Paris between the Wars as the principal incubators of the two disciplines. Accompanied by composite case illustrations, Leffert then explores his own development of the Psychoanalysis of the Absurd, drawing on the work of Camus, Heidegger and Sartre. Absurdity is first discussed in relation to the Bio-Psycho-Social Self and Dasein is posited as a bridge concept, with personal meaning as the antithesis to Absurdity, before being discussed in relation to the world and how it impinges on self. A final chapter attempts to tie together particular issues raised by the book: Subjective well-being, Meaning, thrownness, Absurdity, Death and Death Anxiety and how we have become technologically enhanced human beings. Existential psychotherapy and psychoanalysis have, until now, largely gone their own way: the goal of this book is to fold them back into Contemporary Psychoanalysis. Establishing that the concept of Absurdity is of singular clinical importance to both diagnosis and therapeutic action, this book will be of great interest to clinicians, philosophers, and interdisciplinary scientists. The Psychoanalysis of the Absurd offers an interdisciplinary study of Existentialism and Phenomenology and their importance to the clinical work of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. The concept of Absurdity, developed by Camus, has never been applied to the therapeutic situation or directly contrasted with its antithesis; the search for personal meaning. The book begins with narrative accounts of the historical development of Psychoanalysis, Existentialism and Phenomenology in 20th century Europe. The focus here is on fin de siècle Vienna and Paris between the Wars as the principal incubators of the two disciplines. Accompanied by composite case illustrations, Leffert then explores his own development of the Psychoanalysis of the Absurd, drawing on the work of Camus, Heidegger and Sartre. Absurdity is first discussed in relation to the Bio-Psycho-Social Self and Dasein is posited as a bridge concept, with personal meaning as the antithesis to Absurdity, before being discussed in relation to the world and how it impinges on self. A final chapter attempts to tie together particular issues raised by the book: Subjective Well-Being, Meaning, thrownness, Absurdity, Death and Death Anxiety and how we have become technologically enhanced human beings. Existential psychotherapy and psychoanalysis have, until now, largely gone their own way: the goal of this book is to fold them back into Contemporary Psychoanalysis. Establishing that the concept of Absurdity is of singular clinical importance to both diagnosis and therapeutic action, this book will be of great interest to clinicians, philosophers, and interdisciplinary scientists. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 11 Introduction 12 1. Psychoanalytic knowing: A brief history of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 24 Introduction 24 The broad sweep of Psychoanalytic history 26 The educational and practice traditions of Psychotherapists 34 The Psychotherapists 35 The Psychoanalysts 37 Theoretical plurality 39 What do psychoanalysts and psychotherapists actually do with their patients? 45 Metapsychology and différance 48 References 51 2. Existentialism: The cafés of Vienna and Paris and beyond 55 Introduction 55 Kierkegaard 59 Nietzsche 61 Schopenhauer 63 Fin de siècle Vienna 64 Husserl 70 Heidegger 71 Paris between the wars and beyond 74 Sartre 77 Being and no-thing-ness 77 Existentialism is a Humanism 78 No Exit 79 Nausea 80 Camus and the “Three Absurds” 81 The Stranger 82 The Myth of Sisyphus 83 Caligula 86 Whatever happened to Existentialism? 87 References 88 3. Existentialist: Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 92 Introduction 92 Origins 94 The sixties 98 The Existentialist approach to the therapeutic situation 100 Existentialist Psychology today 107 Two cases 109 Daseinanalysis 110 The North Americans and the British 112 Yalom on Death 114 Anxiety 119 Despair 122 The beginning of a long case 123 References 127 4. The Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of the Absurd 131 Introduction 131 Absurdity and Meaning in the work of Camus and beyond 134 Everydayness (Alltäglichkeit) explained 136 The Self, Dasein, the Eigenwelt, and Absurdity 138 The neural hardware of the Self and its relationship to the Absurd and the Everyday 140 Affective neuroscience and the neuroevolutionary basis of human emotion 142 Heuristics and Biases 143 Subjective Well-Being 147 The Absurdity of development across the life cycle (from uterus to grave) 150 The biology and the psychology of Development 151 The Existential 154 The art of Existential interpretation 156 Some final thoughts about Absurdity 157 References 158 5. Culture and History: How Self engages World 163 Introduction 163 Unknowability and its post-structural effects on the ontology of the Self 165 Dasein: the bridge between Self and World 167 Culture and society 167 The American Dream 169 Anxieties—ecological and political 174 The Ecoanxieties 176 Political Anxiety 181 The inner world—the Microbiome 184 The mechanics—the Social Network and the Mirror Neuron System 187 The Mirror Neuron System (MNS) 188 The Social Networks that make us who we are 190 References 191 6. Meaning, Subjective Well-Being, Thrownness, and Death: A summing up 196 Introduction 196 Subjective Well-Being 198 Meaning, Absurdity, Thrownness, Happiness, and Subjective Well-Being 200 Meaning 202 Death and Death Anxiety 206 Charles 210 Dennis 211 Empirical studies of Death Anxiety 213 Technologically enhanced Human Beings 215 Background 215 Cyborgs 216 A final note on Postphenomenology 220 References 220 Index 225 1 Psychoanalytic knowing; 2 Existentialism; 3 Existentialist Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy; 4 The Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of the Absurd; 5 Culture and History; "6 Meaning,Subjective Well-Being,Thrownness,and Death" 1 Psychoanalytic knowing,2 Existentialism,3 Existentialist Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy,4 The Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of the Absurd,5 Culture and History,6 Meaning, Subjective Well-Being, Thrownness, and Death