In Session, on the Thread of Affect and Emotion: Contemporary Approaches is divided into four parts. The first looks at the Freudian and Bionian models and the book begins its journey with an investigation of Freudian metapsychology from René Roussillon. The second part explores the aesthetic dimension of psychoanalysis and the link with truth, with a focus on emotions, dreams, and non-dreams. The third part concerns defensive issues experienced by the analyst and patient in the consulting room and the fourth and final part concerns the intersubjectivity of affect. Mauro Manica and Maria Grazia Oldoïni highlight the shift that occurred with Melanie Klein and confirmed by Wilfred Bion in his theory of early links between love, hate, knowledge.
It is interesting to see the differing approaches of these contributors from many different countries: France, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Whilst their approach to affect and emotion is influenced by their own cultural specificities and creativity, they all emphasise not only the shared affect, but also the emotional presence between the two protagonists. In this way, they give access to the deepest affective sediments, making this a must-read for all practising psychoanalysts and those with an academic interest.
Béatrice Ithier is a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and a full member of the Paris Psychoanalytical Society and the Italian Psychoanalytical Society (Pavia). She is recognised as a child, adolescent, and adult psychoanalyst by the International Psychoanalytical Association and is an honorary member of the Institute of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in Warsaw, where she teaches. She was a former editor of the Revue française de psychanalyse and of the Organising Committee of the Congress of French- Speaking Psychoanalysts. She is the author of numerous books and articles (International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Revue française de psychanalyse) published in France and elsewhere; of international analytical culture, she is involved in the Kleinian and post- Kleinian, Bionian, and post-Bionian heritage.
Susan Finkelstein, Director, Understanding Primitive Mental States; Faculty Member and Training and Supervising Analyst, Contemporary Freudian Society and Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research –
‘These essays, chosen for their originality, clarity, and honesty in self-evaluation and the dynamic of the analytical encounter, consider the intrapsychic relationship between patient and analyst that aims to transform and heal the voids, disintegrations, and primal traumatic disruptions of mental functioning. This important book guides psychoanalysts and psychotherapists often confounded by patients who are cut off from and therefore unable to put into words their emotional experience. It is through the process of projective identification and the awareness of the patient’s unconscious affect that the analyst can help the patient.’
Elena Molinari, Psychoanalyst; Member, Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI) and International Psychoanalytical Association –
‘The book we have in our hands is like a work of art. It weaves a plot (recalled in the cover image) of solid theory, intertwining and retracing psychoanalytic thought from the origins to the most recent authors. But it doesn’t stop there. It dares to explore the unthought – fragments of plots that delve into the void of representation, the absolute white or black of the abyss. On this canvas of dense plot, each author paints emotional clinical experiences with tenderness, passion, and sincerity. The final sensation is akin to witnessing a dialogue between people unafraid of exposing themselves to judgement, reaffirming the creative authenticity of this book.’
Alain Gibeault, former President, European Psychoanalytical Federation; former Secretary General, International Psychoanalytical Association –
‘This book offers a unique opportunity to bring together analysts from different nationalities and psychoanalytic communities to explore the theoretical and clinical differences between Freud’s and Bion’s approaches to the metapsychology of affect and emotion. The stakes of “in-session” work reveal possible convergences between these two approaches. Indeed, the reference to the concept of negative capability emphasises the role of doubt and surprise in the analytical process, while the notion of enactment points to an emotional two-person work between analyst and analysand.’