Abandonment; A Review of Jungian Analysis

by Murray B. Stein (Contributor), Nathan Schwartz-Salant (Editor)

Jungian theories and clinical approaches to the central therapeutic and developmental issue of abandonment are featured with topics covering early infancy, the creative woman, transformation, and others. Contents : Michael Fordham - Abandonment in Infancy Marion Woodman - Abandonment in the Creative Woman Jeffrey Satinover - At the Mercy of Abandonment and Restitution in Psychosis and Psychotic Character Patricia Berry-Hillman - Some Dream Motifs Accompanying the "Abandonment" of an Analytic Practice Harriet Gordon Machtiger - Perilous Loss, Abandonment, and Transformation Renaldo Maduro - Abandonment and Deintegration of the Primary Self Gilda Frantz - Birth's Cruel I am my own Lost Mother To my own Sad Child William Willeford - Abandonment, Wish, and Hope in the Blues Tristan 0. Cornes - Symbol and Ritual in The Archetype of The Divine Victim SERIES Murray Stein, Ph.D. is a supervising training analyst and former president of The International School of Analytical Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland (ISAP Zurich). His most recent books include Outside Inside and All Around, Minding the Self and The Principle of Individuation . From 2001 to 2004 he was president of the International Association for Analytical Psychology. He lectures internationally on topics related to Analytical Psychology and its applications in the contemporary world. He is publisher emeritus of Chiron Publications and is the focus of many Asheville Jung Center online seminars. Nathan Schwartz-Salant, Ph.D. is a Jungian analyst, trained in Zurich, Switzerland. He is the author of numerous books, including The Borderline Vision and Healing, Narcissism and Character Transformation , and The Black The Fusional Complex and the Unlived Life as well as the co-editor of the Chiron Clinical Series . He is the director of the Foundation for Research in Jungian Psychology.

250 pages, Paperback

Published November 14, 2013

About the author

Not to be confused with other Analytical/Jungian Psychologist Murray Stein

Jungian psychoanalyst, author, lecturer

Murray Stein, Ph.D.is a training analyst at the International School for Analytical Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland. His most recent publications include The Principle of Individuation, Jung’s Map of the Soul, and The Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis (Editor of the Jungian sections, with Ross Skelton as General Editor). He lectures internationally on topics related to Analytical Psychology and its applications in the contemporary world.

Dr. Stein is a graduate of Yale University (B.A. and M.Div.), the University of Chicago (Ph.D., in Religion and Psychological Studies), and the C.G. Jung Institut-Zurich. He is a founding member of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts and Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts. He has been the president of the International Association for Analytical Psychology (2001-4), and is presently a member of the Swiss Society for Analytical Psychology and President of the International School of Analytical Psychology, Zurich.

Reviews

[Steve Ellerhoff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just finished this book out two nights ago in the forest, camping in a tent on my own under a red fir with a mumbling porcupine somewhere nearby in the dark. It took me many months to work through this one. I was interested in reading Jungian perspectives on the theme of abandonment and found many of the essays gratifying in their explorations. Taken together, however, the collection is uneven and may not quite live up to its focus. This collection, it should be pointed out, is from 1985, so it's worth one's while to consider what was going on in analytical psychology at the time. It was also edited by the great Murray Stein. I wish he had also contributed an essay.

First, the best contributions: Marion Woodman and Patricia Berry (here Berry-Hillman) provide some great schtuff, as expected, though nothing seismic. I really liked encountering Harriet Gordon Machtiger and Gilda Frantz for the first time; their work made me want to read more by each. William Willeford's essay on abandonment in blues music, going back to its pioneers, is the volume's big surprise.

One problem this volume brings forth has to do partly with its place in history and the way time has played out. It includes an essay by Jeffrey Satinover that is insightful and compelling in its analysis of Jungian theory. Unfortunately, Satinover went on to impeach his own ethos by proving himself to be a bigot, making a cottage-industry career out of providing expert witness testimony in favor of conversion therapy in American courts of law. It's always sad to see someone capable of useful contributions to society (a la the essay in this collection) turn out to be a slug. I've no idea if he's been canceled yet or not, but his behavior to disenfranchise and support organized trauma is enough for me to never use any of his work in any of my own going forward.