Lacanian Psychoanalysis in Practice

Book excerpt: In this book, fourteen Lacanian psychoanalysts from Italy and France present how they listen and understand clinical questions, and how they operate in session. More than a theoretical ‘introduction to Lacan’, this book stems from clinical issues, is written by practicing psychoanalysts and not only presents theoretical concepts, but also their use in practice. Psychoanalytic listening is the leitmotif of this book. How, and what, does a psychoanalyst listen to/for? How to effectively listen, and thus understand, something from the unconscious? Further, this book examines the evolution of psychic symptoms since Freud’s Studies on Hysteria to today, and how the clinical work has changed. It introduces the differences between 'classic' discourses and ‘modern’ symptoms, with also a spotlight on some transversal issues. Chapters include hysteria, obsessive discourse and phobia, paranoia, panic disorder, anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating and obesity, depressions, addictions, borderline cases, the relationship with the mother, perversion, clinic of the void, and jealousy. Despite possessing the same theoretical reference of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, the contributors of this book belong to different associations and groups, and each of them provides several examples taken from their own practice. Lacanian Psychoanalysis in Practice is of great interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, students and academics from the international psychoanalytic community.