The Language of Emotions

Developmental, Psychopathology, and Technique

Edited by Salman Akhtar and Harold P. Blum - Contributions by Harold P. Blum M.D.; M. Hossein Etezady; Anni Bergman Ph.D.; Maria Fahey; M.A; Keigo Okonogi M.D.; William M. Singletary M.D.; Phyllis Tyson Ph.D.; Daniel M. A. Freeman M.D.; Osamu Kitayama M.D. and Lilo Plaschkes

This book is about affect—its origins, development and uses—and how it is viewed in a clinical setting. The authors track and further develop the recent major changes in the understanding of affect. From its roots in childhood development to its cross-cultural aspects, affect remains clinically relevant in issues such as aggression and forgiveness.

Jason Aronson, Inc.

Pages: 264 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7657-0328-6 • Paperback • January 2005 • $68.00 • (£52.00)

Series: Margaret S. Mahler

Subjects: Psychology / Emotions, Psychology / Developmental / General, Psychology / Mental Illness, Psychology / Psychopathology / General

The Language of Emotions

Developmental, Psychopathology, and Technique

Paperback

Summary

This book is about affect—its origins, development and uses—and how it is viewed in a clinical setting. The authors track and further develop the recent major changes in the understanding of affect. From its roots in childhood development to its cross-cultural aspects, affect remains clinically relevant in issues such as aggression and forgiveness.

Details

Jason Aronson, Inc.

Pages: 264 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7657-0328-6 • Paperback • January 2005 • $68.00 • (£52.00)

Series: Margaret S. Mahler

Subjects: Psychology / Emotions, Psychology / Developmental / General, Psychology / Mental Illness, Psychology / Psychopathology / General

Author

Salman Akhtar, M.D., is professor of psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College, lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He is author of Broken Structures (1992),Quest for Answers (1995),Inner Torment (1999) andImmigration and Identity (1999). His more than 175 scientific publications also include eighteen edited or co-edited books. Dr. Akhtar is the recipient of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association's Award (1995), the Margaret Mahler Literature Prize (1996), ASPP's Sigmund Freud Award (2000), and the Edith Sabshin Award of the American Psychoanalytic Association (2000). He has also published five volumes of poetry.
Harold P. Blum, M.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry and supervising and training analyst at the Psychoanalytic Institute of the New York University Medical Center. He is also the Executive Director of the Sigmund Freud Archives and has been the editor of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Dr. Blum is the author of more than 115 psychoanalytic papers and several books. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the inaugural Sigourney Awards, Mahler Literature Prize, Heinz Hartman Award, and Sandor Lorand Prize. He has delivered the prestigious Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, Heinz Hartman, and A.A. Brill Lectures and has given two plenary addresses to the American Psychoanalytic Association.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Language of Affect
Chapter 2 Affects in Development and Clinical Work—Discussion of Blum's Chapter "Language of Affect"
Chapter 3 Cross-Cultural Varieties in Experiencing Affect
Chapter 4 Joint Looking, Shared Experiencing, and Verbalizing Affects in the United States and Japan—Discussion of Kitayama's Chapter "Cross-Cultural Varieties in Experiencing Affect"
Chapter 5 Separation-Individuation, Object Constancy, and Affect Regulation
Chapter 6 The Internal Monster: An Aspect of Hostile Self and Object Constancy—Discussion of Tyson's Chapter "Separation-Individuation, Object Constancy, and Affect Regulation"
Chapter 7 Forgiveness: Origins, Development, Psychopathology, and Technical Relevance
Chapter 8 Acceptance, Mourning, and the Metabolism of Aggression—Two Discussions of Akhtar's Chapter "Forgiveness"
Chapter 9 Observations and Representations of the Earliest Relationship: A View from Separation-Individuation and Attachment
Chapter 10 The Intergenerational Legacy—Discussion of Bergman and Fahey's Chapter "Observations and Representations of the Earliest Relationship"
Chapter 11 Language and Affect—A Concluding Overview

Reviews

This is a solid book. It should be read by any student of psychoanalysis who is ready and willing to speak a new language.
— Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association

The discussions are of high caliber and should provide an important contribution to the advancing understanding of emotion psychoanalytically.
— Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic: A Journal for the Mental Health Professions

Enriched by cross-cultural perspectives and a Mahlerian Developmental slant, this new book uses substantial clinical examples and a wide array of concepts to explore the development of affect-affect and language, affect and pathology, affect and technique. Its distinguished contributors, including Akhtar, Bergman, Blum, Kitayama, and Tyson have indeed given clinicians a treat!
— Fred Pine, Ph.D.

This book explores the many factors that contribute to the development of the capacity to put affects into words. These include the nature of the mother-infant dialogue, the impact of both culture and individual family psychopathology upon attachment, and the unfolding of the separation-individuation process. This book is a fascinating examination of the relationship between developmental forces, cultural values, family dynamics, and clinical practice. It will be of value to all clinicians who, with their patients, struggle to verbalize the non-verbal.
— J. Alexis Burland, M.D., The Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia

This volume provides an excellent update of separation-individuation processes in light of contemporary theories of affect regulation, particularly in regard to the many channels available for affect communication between mother and child. Of special interest is the description of the influence of cross-cultural differences on character formation and on psychoanalytic technique.
— Eleanor Galenson, M.D., Mt. Sinai School of Medicine