Unconscious

<p>In <i>The Unconscious: A Contemporary Introduction</i> Joseph Newirth presents a critical and comparative analysis of the unconscious and its evolution from a positivist to a postmodern frame of reference. </p><p>This book presents five theories each of which offers different and important conceptualizations of the unconscious and each of which contains a rich palate of ideas through which to approach clinical work. These psychoanalytic theories are thought of as spokes on a wheel emanating from the center of Freud’s concept of the unconscious. In addition to presenting Freud’s development of the unconscious Newirth includes discussions of interpersonal/relational psychoanalysis; developmental approaches to the unconscious including Kohut Winnicott and Fonagy; Kleinian approaches to the unconscious; and linguistic theories of the unconscious including Matte Blanco and Lacan. The last chapter illustrates the use of contemporary psychoanalytic concepts in the clinical work with a contemporary patient. The book encourages a comparative view of psychoanalytic theory and technique and aims to move to a more useful generalizable concept of the unconscious for the contemporary patient. </p><p>This book will be of great interest to psychoanalysts psychologists and anyone interested in the evolution and application of the unconscious as a concept. </p>