Freudian Thought for the Contemporary Clinician: A Primer on Psychoanalytic Theory

213 Pages·2021·2.506 MB·English

by  Robert Mendelsohn

Freudian Thought for the
Contemporary Clinician
This book uses clear language, modern contexts and key psychoanalytic concepts
to exemplify how Sigmund Freud’s thinking and legacy is directly relevant to
contemporary therapists.
Interweaving theory with history, Freudian Thought for the Contemporary
Clinician allows readers to take a walk in Freud’s shoes, offering a new
framework for understanding his arcane language and the cultural mores of the
early 20th century. Robert Mendelsohn explores topics including sexuality and
gender, racial injustice and cultural differences with direct reference to Freud’s
cases, demonstrating how traditional psychoanalytic ideas may inform solutions
to issues we face today.
Featuring clinical examples and philosophical explorations delivered in an
accessible style, Freudian Thought for the Contemporary Clinician will be a key
text for psychoanalytic clinicians in practice and in training. It will also be of
great interest to academics and scholars of psychoanalytic studies, the history of
psychology and the history of ideas.
Robert Mendelsohn is Professor of Psychology and former Dean at the Gordon
F. Derner School of Psychology of Adelphi University, USA.

Freudian Thought for the
Contemporary Clinician
A Primer on Psychoanalytic Theory
Robert Mendelsohn
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Robert Mendelsohn
The right of Robert Mendelsohn to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mendelsohn, Robert, 1943– author.
Title: Freudian thought for the contemporary clinician : a primer on
psychoanalytic theory / Robert Mendelsohn.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge,
2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021020041 (print) | LCCN 2021020042 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367774431 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367774417 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003171393 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Psychoanalytic counseling. | Psychoanalysis. | Freud,
Sigmund, 1856-1939—Influence.
Classification: LCC BF175.4.C68 M46 2022 (print) | LCC BF175.4.C68
(ebook) | DDC 150.19/52—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021020041
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021020042
ISBN: 978-0-367-77443-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-77441-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-17139-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003171393
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
This book is dedicated to Gordon Fredrick Derner (1915–1983),
my teacher, mentor, colleague and friend

Contents
List of figures ix
Foreword x
Preface xii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1 The exploration of the neurosis and the early origins
of psychoanalysis 3
2 Dreams: psychoanalysis begins 10
3 Dreams: where psychoanalysis begins; an early structural
model of the mind 30
4 Sexuality and the “stages of development” theory 54
5 Psychoanalysis and the beginnings of a “theory of mind” 80
 6  The  beginning  of  ego  psychology:  the  process  of  identification  95
7 Further explorations in ego psychology “Beyond the
pleasure principle” and the ego, the id and the superego 107
8 Anxiety and the Ego: a new theory of anxiety, a new theory
of defense and a new theory of object relations 123
 9  Freud’s  case  studies  I:  hysteria  141
viii Contents
10 Freud’s case studies II: obsessional neurosis, phobia and
reconstruction 157
11 Conclusion: Freud’s psychoanalysis: a “talk therapy”
for the 21st century 178
Index 189
Figures
2.1 Hypothetical mother 13
2.2 Early model of the mind 16
3.1 Model of waking versus dreaming mind 32
6.1  The  process  of  identification  103
7.1  Freud’s  structural  model  of  the  mind  119