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Eating Disorders: A Contemporary Introduction
This book presents an accessible introduction to the conceptualization and treatment of eating disorders from a psychoanalytic perspective.
Each of the chapters offers a different perspective on these difficult-to-treat conditions and taken together, illustrate the breadth and depth that psychoanalytic thinking can offer both seasoned clinicians as well as those just beginning to explore the field. Different aspects of how psychoanalytic theory and practice can engage with eating disorders are addressed, including mobilizing its nuanced developmental theories to illustrate the difficulties these patients have with putting feelings into words, the loathing that they feel towards their bodies, the disharmonies they experience in the link between body and mind, and even the ways that they engage with online Internet forums.
This is an accessible read for clinicians at the start of their career and will also be a useful, novel take on the subject for experienced practitioners.
Each of the chapters offers a different perspective on these difficult-to-treat conditions and taken together, illustrate the breadth and depth that psychoanalytic thinking can offer both seasoned clinicians as well as those just beginning to explore the field. Different aspects of how psychoanalytic theory and practice can engage with eating disorders are addressed, including mobilizing its nuanced developmental theories to illustrate the difficulties these patients have with putting feelings into words, the loathing that they feel towards their bodies, the disharmonies they experience in the link between body and mind, and even the ways that they engage with online Internet forums.
This is an accessible read for clinicians at the start of their career and will also be a useful, novel take on the subject for experienced practitioners.
192 pages, ebook
Published January 1, 2022
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 28, 2024
Tom Wooldridge, totally recommended for psychology students. He turns to the basics, such as Freud, and contemporaries as well. The book is part of a collection of small but powerful books on different themes concerning psychopathology.
It even includes a chapter related to Internet use concerning groups. Not support groups, but pro-ana (anorexia Nervosa) and pro-mia (bulimia Nervosa), that serve for some as a means of relief but sometimes help create a facade of pseudo reality.
The book does not contain evolutionary insights such as those mentioned by Marco del Giudice or Randolph M. Neese on evolutionary psychopathology; the book is strictly written using a psychoanalytic baseline.
I'm not a professional to explain everything in complete detail, so I urge you to read some of the quotes that I extracted from the book. It is amazing.
It focuses mostly on anorexia Nervosa, sometimes bulimia is mentioned, but it serves to explain some phenomena that goes through the patient's mind while in therapy. There are examples using real people in which he focuses on early experiences, using gender-agency, and the most surprising thing was the theory of the psychic skin, as a means of "containing" the human mind in early days, while being a newborn. Any or every experience can develop into a risk for a disorder.
It even includes a chapter related to Internet use concerning groups. Not support groups, but pro-ana (anorexia Nervosa) and pro-mia (bulimia Nervosa), that serve for some as a means of relief but sometimes help create a facade of pseudo reality.
The book does not contain evolutionary insights such as those mentioned by Marco del Giudice or Randolph M. Neese on evolutionary psychopathology; the book is strictly written using a psychoanalytic baseline.
I'm not a professional to explain everything in complete detail, so I urge you to read some of the quotes that I extracted from the book. It is amazing.
It focuses mostly on anorexia Nervosa, sometimes bulimia is mentioned, but it serves to explain some phenomena that goes through the patient's mind while in therapy. There are examples using real people in which he focuses on early experiences, using gender-agency, and the most surprising thing was the theory of the psychic skin, as a means of "containing" the human mind in early days, while being a newborn. Any or every experience can develop into a risk for a disorder.
October 5, 2022
I liked this book since it was the first book(that I am aware of) which summarises important psychoanalytic theories regarding eating disorders. However, some parts of this book were overly repetitive. That was the main reason I gave this book 3 stars.
September 23, 2025
Tom Wooldridge, totally recommended for psychology students. He turns to the basics, such as Freud, and contemporaries as well. The book is part of a collection of small but powerful books on different themes concerning psychopathology.
It even includes a chapter related to Internet use concerning groups. Not support groups, but pro-ana (anorexia Nervosa) and pro-mia (bulimia Nervosa), that serve for some as a means of relief but sometimes help create a facade of pseudo reality.
The book does not contain evolutionary insights such as those mentioned by Marco del Giudice or Randolph M. Neese on evolutionary psychopathology; the book is strictly written using a psychoanalytic baseline.
I'm not a professional to explain everything in complete detail, so I urge you to read some of the quotes that I extracted from the book. It is amazing.
It focuses mostly on anorexia Nervosa, sometimes bulimia is mentioned, but it serves to explain some phenomena that goes through the patient's mind while in therapy. There are examples using real people in which he focuses on early experiences, using gender-agency, and the most surprising thing was the theory of the psychic skin, as a means of "containing" the human mind in early days, while being a newborn. Any or every experience can develop into a risk for a disorder.
It even includes a chapter related to Internet use concerning groups. Not support groups, but pro-ana (anorexia Nervosa) and pro-mia (bulimia Nervosa), that serve for some as a means of relief but sometimes help create a facade of pseudo reality.
The book does not contain evolutionary insights such as those mentioned by Marco del Giudice or Randolph M. Neese on evolutionary psychopathology; the book is strictly written using a psychoanalytic baseline.
I'm not a professional to explain everything in complete detail, so I urge you to read some of the quotes that I extracted from the book. It is amazing.
It focuses mostly on anorexia Nervosa, sometimes bulimia is mentioned, but it serves to explain some phenomena that goes through the patient's mind while in therapy. There are examples using real people in which he focuses on early experiences, using gender-agency, and the most surprising thing was the theory of the psychic skin, as a means of "containing" the human mind in early days, while being a newborn. Any or every experience can develop into a risk for a disorder.
February 16, 2025
If you need scientific and logical explanations for dealing with restrictive eating disorders, I would recommend this book. It’s short and not too heavy despite the subject matter.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews