The challenges and crises that kept resurfacing in Michael and Batya Shoshani’s work with extremely difficult patients hunted by anxieties of being, and in particular with perverse psychic organization, motivated them to write this book. It is an attempt to propose a clinical conceptualisation to enhance their understanding of these lost and confused patients, whose narcissistic struggle against human fate defies reality and truth, challenging the analyst and the analytic situation. Analysts, caught between their own perception of reality and truth and the wish to be empathetic to their patients’ experiences and views of reality, often feel torn and as if standing on quicksand.
Here, the authors are joining a contemporary movement in the psychoanalytic tradition whilst turning to other disciplines in order to better understand and explain the suffering of their patients. The use of literature, in particular the fictional works of Jorge Luis Borges; film, with an in-depth look at Roman Polanski’s Bitter Moon (1992) and Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies (2010); and philosophy, the ideas of Heidegger and how they link to those of Freud, coupled together with a solid grasp of psychoanalytic theory, such as reflections on Neville Symington’s seminal theory of narcissism, interspersed with real-life case studies bring the chapters alive. Such interplay between the detailed clinical material and conceptual formulations to an interdisciplinary dialogue enables a different outlook that will enrich the ongoing professional discourse on these perplexing and illusive psychic phenomena.
Read, digest, and enjoy.
Batya Shoshani, PhD, a Fullbright scholar, is a training and supervising psychoanalyst and a professor of clinical social work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (retired), with vast experience in teaching and supervision in social work, psychotherapy, and psychoanalysis. She is a founding member and the chair of the training committee at The Tel Aviv Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis. She has been a senior consultant for public services dealing with children, adolescents, battered women, and delinquent youth. She is interested in interdisciplinary studies in psychoanalysis, weaving clinical knowledge with philosophy, literature, and art. In addition, Batya has shown great interest in the particular theory and technique of perversions alongside Michael Shoshani, Psy.D., and has written numerous articles regarding these subjects.
Thomas H. Ogden, MD, author, most recently, of ‘Reclaiming Unlived Life: Experiences in Psychoanalysis’ and ‘Creative Readings: Essays on Seminal Analytic Works’ –
I find that the approach taken by Michael and Batya Shoshani to destructive narcissism and perversion to be original, both in the sense of drawing on ideas from their birthplace, and in the sense of doing something new with them. They describe clearly the ways they understand and go about the psychoanalytic treatment of patients suffering from illness grounded in these qualities of the psyche–soma, which I find to be of great value. The span of their knowledge of literature and philosophy is used not to demonstrate how much they know, but to demonstrate how much there is to learn as we weave different aspects of the humanities into an intimate conversation with our analytic thinking and practice.
Donnel B. Stern, PhD, William Alanson White Institute, New York –
In this timely, creative, and deeply affecting book, Michael and Batya Shoshani ask us to consider new avenues to the minds of those characterised by perversion and destructive narcissism. Not incidentally, the Shoshanis also want their readers to apply these ideas to their own minds – which is to say that the book is a fine demonstration of Harry Stack Sullivan’s widely known adage (quoted in these pages) that, “We are all much more human than otherwise.” I find especially moving and informative the Shoshanis’ masterful final chapter on Freud and Heidegger. This chapter contains what is simply the best very brief presentation of the essence of Heidegger that I know. That material is, by itself, enough to make me recommend the book highly; but it is only one of many reasons that any psychotherapist or psychoanalyst will read this book with both profit and pleasure.
Antonino Ferro, MD, member of the SPI, APsaA, and IPA –
Drawing upon their first-hand experience and expertise, Michael and Batya Shoshani provide an outstanding example of how psychoanalysis can broaden and deepen the understanding of psychotic states of mind such as pathological narcissism and perversions. The authors have deftly woven together rich clinical descriptions and conceptualisations with ideas, characters, and narratives drawn from literature, philosophy, and cinema. The result is mind-expanding and illuminating. What lifts this book above many is the great courage with which the authors have sought to push through the Gates of Hercules, venturing beyond what is known and deemed analysable. Once again, we see that analysts’ minds and their qualities allow previously unthinkable crossings, voyages to new horizons and unfamiliar territories awaiting exploration. The analytical journey stops being a celebration of the known and becomes open to “new vistas on mental life”. Luis Borges wrote that the work of all writers modifies our conception of the past, just as it is bound to modify the future. I believe this truly wonderful book will do just that
Michael Eigen, PhD, author of ‘The Psychotic Core’, ‘Madness and Murder’, ‘Contact with the Depths’, and ‘The Challenge of Being Human’ –
Michael and Batya Shoshani explore issues basic for our time, especially but not limited to the present historical moment. Among other things, they rescue the term “perverse” from its narrow sexual meaning and bring out a broader dynamic view linked to destructive narcissism. There is much to learn from and about our perverse psyche or, rather, perverse psychic organisations which play a role in important spectrums of psychic wounding and cruelty, where bad can become good and good can become bad. This book invites us to go deeper with ourselves, see ourselves from many angles, acknowledging difficulties that face us individually and as a human group.
Professor Jon Mills, PsyD, PhD, ABPP, postgraduate programs in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, Adelphi University –
This volume breaks new ground on conceptualisations of pathological narcissism and its various species of perversion. With rare, rich case illustrations, the authors expose the many supple layers of primitive psychic organisation and tensions among ethics of responsibility in working authentically with profoundly disturbed patients. With our areas of agreement and areas of disagreement regarding Heidegger’s thinking, I find the Shoshani’s work to be both a challenge and an ally in the journey of understanding Heidegger’s ontology and integrating ideas from it into Freudian psychoanalysis. They bravely point the way towards a renewal in existential psychoanalysis that is sophisticated and long overdue.
Shai Frugel, professor of philosophy, dean of the humanistic and social sciences faculty, Kibbutzim College –
The book explains and illustrates the importance of multidisciplinary spirit to psychoanalysis by showing how it expands the capability to deal with the dynamic nature of the human psyche; the associations from Borges and the conceptualisations from Heidegger are illuminating. It is undoubtedly a vital shacking to the dogmatic slumber of conservative psychoanalysis which closes itself behind scholastic walls.
Vamık D. Volkan, professor emeritus of psychiatry, president emeritus of International Dialogue Initiative, and author of ‘Large-Group Psychology’ –
In 1953, Anna Freud was involved in a discussion on “the widening scope of psychoanalysis”. She questioned if psychoanalysts should struggle with technical problems which arise during the treatment of a person who is severely disturbed. She stated that it would be a better use of time for psychoanalysts to treat six young people with mild neurosis rather than one severely disturbed person. Many individuals with severely disturbed psychic organisation have continued and will continue to seek psychoanalytic treatment. This book is an in-depth theoretical as well as clinical study of patients who exhibit a narcissistic–perverse psychic organisation, as well as psychotic patients, all of whom are very difficult to reach. Such individuals’ exclusion from parental intimacy during their developmental years, intensification of their destructive narcissism, their impaired superegos and ego-ideals, their failure in capacity to think, mourn and love, their exhibiting pathological envy, their utilising deception, their “ontological insecurity”, their other common experiences and characteristics and therapeutic responses to them are brilliantly examined and illustrated with clinical examples. The book ends illustrating how perverse narcissistic processes represented in films, literature and philosophical thoughts, expand our theory and praxis. I consider this volume a valuable textbook that psychoanalysts and psychotherapists should keep on their bookshelves.
Dr Michal Ben-Naftali, writer, philosopher, translator, and lecturer –
This book by Batya and Michael Shoshani is a brilliant example of lucid and original four-handed writing which, all throughout the book, demonstrates various manifestations of the ‘third party’ in the analytic situation: from a spouse’s insight to the involvement of diverse fields of knowledge. The proposed psychoanalytic conceptualisation of the perverse-psychotic spectrum draws on literature and philosophy, but not through the conventional and familiar interdisciplinary conjunction. The appeal to these texts is not scholarly or disciplinary in the narrow sense of the word. Rather, its motivation is an existential one: these texts, therefore, are gradually revealed as constituting the very possibility of analytic reverie.
Dr Peter Shabad, psychoanalyst, writer, and professor in Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine –
Michael and Batya Shoshani have produced an important and timely book on the complex interrelationship between narcissism and perversion. The two authors use immense scholarship to bring together psychoanalysis, literature, and philosophy in a psychoanalytic/existential synthesis exploring the conceptual and clinical underpinnings of perverse phenomena. I especially enjoyed their close reading and informative comparison of the work of Freud and Heidegger. In addition, their clinical case examples are vivid, moving, and informative. I wholeheartedly recommend this book as an invaluable addition to the psychoanalytic literature.
Stanley B. Messer, PhD, distinguished professor emeritus and former dean, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University –
It is often at the interface of different fields of inquiry that new ideas emerge. In this fascinating and lucid volume, Michael and Batya Shoshani have successfully explored the nexus of psychoanalysis, literature, film, and philosophy to discover new ways to understand and relate to psychoanalytic patients. They boldly take on problematic psychopathologies such as perversions and narcissism, bringing to light creative means to treat them by having in mind the wisdom of literary figures such as Jorge Luis Borges and philosophers like Martin Heidegger. This intellectual and clinical tour de force is truly a gift for psychoanalytic practitioners and theoreticians alike.
Amazon review: Kate Astrom, August 2021 –
5/5 stars: Fantastically insightful book.
This book offers a well written and insightful look into narcissism and the difficulties encountered in trying to help those suffering with it.
James P. Frosch, The Psychoanalytic Quarterly Vol. 90 No. 4 (2021) –
‘The Shoshanis capture the difficulty of the work while also providing guidance about how the analyst can remain psychologically alive, hold on to his/her own self, and manage the inevitability of being shaken in the countertransference. There are many useful technical discussions, including a particularly judicious one on the necessity but complexities of utilizing occasional self-disclosure of the analyst’s emotional state. […] I hope many analysts read this book. I think they will find it as helpful and meaningful as I have.’
Gila Ashtor, Psychoanalytic Psychology, American Psychological Association 2023, Vol. 40, No. 3, 232–233 –
‘It is a mark of Michael and Batya Shoshani’s intellectual bravery that they have chosen to write a book about perversion, and to do so not by denying its controversiality but by insisting on the clinical relevance of this complicated term. […] As two established psychoanalysts practicing in Israel, the authors bring a wealth of experience and case material to their discussion of perversion, making every effort to demonstrate that beneath the high-minded debates about moralistic theory are suffering patients who need the nosological specificity that the concept of perversion provides.’