The Psychoanalytic Vision

by Frank Summers

Psychoanalytic therapy is distinguished by its immersion in the world of the experiencing subject. In The Psychoanalytic Vision, Frank Summers argues that analytic therapy and its unique epistemology is a worldview that stands in clear opposition to the hegemonic cultural value system of objectification, quantification, and materialism. The Psychoanalytic Vision situates psychoanalysis as a voice of the rebel, affirming the importance of the subjective in contrast to the culture of objectification.

Founded on phenomenological philosophy from which it derives its unique epistemology and ethical grounding, psychoanalytic therapy as a hermeneutic of the experiential world has no role for reified concepts. Consequently, fundamental analytic concepts such as "the unconscious" and "the intrapsychic," are reconceptualized to eliminate reifying elements.

The essence of The Psychoanalytic Vision is the freshness of its theoretical and clinical approach as a hermeneutic of the experiential world. Fundamental clinical phenomena, such as dreams, time, and the experience of the other, are reformulated, and these theoretical shifts are illustrated with a variety of vivid case descriptions.

The last part of the book is devoted to the surreptitious role beliefs and values of contemporary culture play in many forms of psychopathology.

For clinicians, The Psychoanalytic Vision offers a fresh clinical theory based on the consistent application of the subjectification of human experience, and for scholars, a worldview that provides the framework for a potentially fruitful cross-fertilization of ideas with cognate disciplines.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Cathie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book on the radical potential of psychoanalysis. I have sensed I am a rebel in my choice of psychoanalytic study and practice. Summers' book elaborated this idea. I found the chapters in part 3 to be especially inspiring and relevant to the work I do in social, racial and environmental justice.

You can see my 2013 blog post on this book at http://tennesseehawk.typepad.com/hawk...

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the way Summers walks through how psychoanalysis should be focused on understanding one's subjective experience, instead of dictating what that inner experience should be. I found his theory open, and thoughtful. I particularly appreciated his attempt to examine how the culture of our time tends to objectify people, and make them think of themselves as machines. I find this very helpful as a clinician. I do think that his analysis of how people from different cultures frequently focused on acculturation, instead of talking about the values those different cultures can have, and the way those different cultures may create greater resilience and positive experiences.