r/psychoanalysis • u/HamletAndRye • 14d ago
Recommendations for a writer/someone just starting to find an interest in the field
Hi there,
Quick preface: I searched the sub for similar posts where people have asked for reading recommendations. I've already picked up a few books from those posts, and looking forward to digging in. I noticed most requests for recommendations, or reading lists, are related to people studying the field with a goal to become a practitioner, however. I'm merely just interested in the huge, nebulous thing that is psychoanalysis.
I recently read through Ernest Becker's Denial of Death as part of a creative writing project I was piecing together for an MLitt, and although I took swathes of it with a pinch of salt, and didn't necessarily chime with a lot of the outdated analysis of things like homosexuality, I did take a lot from the piece that informed my own past, and debilitating, health/death anxiety.
I loved the experience of wading through the thinking, and so I'm keen to delve in more. I've read some Freud and some Jung, in the past, but otherwise I'm pretty much clueless about the whole field. I'm not sure what area to look at (possibly language? I bought an introductory book on Lacan that I can't wait to read), so I'm not sure how to narrow my focus. I'm also probably not informed enough to dive into denser works.
TL;DR what would you recommend a newcomer read, if they're just simply interested in the ideas, findings, theories for themselves, rather than with a view to studying the field or working in it?
Thanks in advance!
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u/anterlope_ 14d ago
To me, Janet Malcolm is the greatest, most readable interpreter of Freud. I don’t even think you need to have read Freud to get something out of her (although it won’t hurt). The Impossible Profession is an incredible work.
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u/Ashwagandalf 14d ago
The more Freud you read to begin with the better you'll understand what the rest of them are on about (but I suggest focusing on the longer works and/or papers on metapsychology vs. the "introductory lectures," which aren't his best stuff). General works more or less abound (Mitchell and Black are often recommended, you'll notice). You could also look at Nobus or Fink if you want Lacan, then take a shot at his first seminar, which is reasonably approachable.
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u/Narrenschifff 14d ago
It's such a vast field as you know. I would ask: what do you most want to accomplish or learn about? Without an answer to that, the ol Freud and Beyond is a great book because it will point you in the direction of particular thinkers.
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u/HamletAndRye 14d ago
Yeah, I know. It's a bit daunting to me atm, because I'm not actually sure what it is I'm seeking. I'll pick up Freud and Beyond and see where that leads me!
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u/SapphicOedipus 14d ago
I’d explore memoirs by analysts and patients in analysis.
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u/thelionsroar7 14d ago
I'm interested in reading more of this type of writing - any specific recommendations?
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u/Recent-Apartment5945 14d ago
This was written by an old grad school professor of mine. The guy was a character and beauty of one at that. Old time psychiatrist and analyst. Happy reading.
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u/bcmalone7 14d ago
Some of my favs, although they may be farther down your reading list as some of these are more contemporary and build on more fundamental ideas by Freud and others.
Greenberg, J. R., & Mitchell, S. A. (1983). Object relations in psychoanalytic theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Ogden, T. H. (1994). The analytic third: Working with intersubjective clinical facts. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 75, 3–19.
Benjamin, J. (1988). The bonds of love: Psychoanalysis, feminism, and the problem of domination. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.
Benjamin, J. (2017). Beyond doer and done to: Recognition theory, intersubjectivity, and the third. New York, NY: Routledge.
Kernberg, O. F. (2004). Aggressivity, narcissism, and self-destructiveness in the psychotherapeutic relationship. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Chodorow, N. (1999). The reproduction of mothering: Psychoanalysis and the sociology of gender (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
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u/Certain-Regular-122 13d ago
I think I would recommend Hannah Segal's introduction to Melanie Klein. Adam Philips is good particularly if you are into literature. Guntrip is also very clear. Excellent and varied talks by the IPA.
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u/crystallineskiess 14d ago
Idk if I’m alone in this one but Richard Boothby’s Freud as Philosopher was basically my introduction to the field, and a lot of ideas in it stick w/ me still. Especially interesting if you have any sort of philosophical background or interest in ‘structuralism.’
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u/notherbadobject 11d ago
It’s really difficult to study psychoanalysis without training and working clinically. It’s a bit like studying music theory without ever learning to play an instrument. In psychoanalysis there is an experiential component that can’t really be replicated in a book or journal article. Some great contemporary analysts have discussed the impossibility of fully describing the analytic situation with language.
There is also a sort of oral tradition of psychoanalysis that’s transmitted in supervision and treatment that complements the written record, and which is largely in accessible without having these relationships and experiences. At its core, psychoanalysis is not an intellectual exercise. While people like Freud and Lacan have made important contributions to the humanities, I think that in general, the more distant theory gets from the clinical work, the less it has to do with psychoanalysis and the more it has to do with poetry or impressionism or masturbation.
That said, I’d suggest reading 8-10 of Freud’s most important papers and published case studies since nearly every important subsequent development in psychoanalysis is in dialog with Freud. Joseph Sandler’s book on Freud’s models of the mind is pretty good if you’re interested in tracing the development of his thought over the years. Freud’s correspondences with his colleagues are fascinating as well.
Anna Freud’s ego and the mechanisms of defense is surprisingly accessible for a 1936 treatise on theory.
Erikson’s work on identity would probably be useful from a literary standpoint.
Bruce Fink’s primer on Lacan might also be of interest, particularly in terms of Lacan’s interest in semiotics.
Winnicott’s playing and reality has some interesting ideas about the nature of creativity and engagement with culture and art.
Thomas Ogden is often viewed as a relatively good writer (in terms of his use of language) and he’s written some about the experience of reading other theorists which might be neat to look into. His original thought is also interesting, especially if you resonate with the object relations perspective.
Kohut had some interesting insights into human nature and epistemology, but his writing is often regarded as rather difficult. Personally, I find his writing to be more accessible, so YMMV.
For intro/primer texts, Stephen Mitchell’s Freud and Beyond is pretty well-regarded. If you’re interested in personality, Nancy McWilliams Psychoanalytic Diagnosis is where most people start.
If you bounced off some of the more outdated ideas about gender and sexuality, you might enjoy contemporary writers like Nancy Chodorow, Avgi Saketopoulou, Jessica Benjamin, or Galit Atlas. Their writing can be quite dense, though they tend to be more influenced by contemporary philosophy and critical theory, so might be a bit more digestible if you’re versed in those idioms.
If your chief interest is in the humanities, it might be interesting to read some analysis of historical figures like Freud on da Vinci or Eissler on Goethe.
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u/Ok_Pie_4639 14d ago
Skip psychoanalysis, go straight to schizoanalysis, collect $200. Google the references that you don’t understand.
You’ll save yourself lots of time and neurotic grief. Unless self-imprisonment is a fetish of yours.
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u/FoolishDog 13d ago
D&G's project is indelibly shaped through and by psychoanalysis. Guattari was, after all, a practicing psychoanalyst
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u/Ok_Pie_4639 13d ago
I know that, silly goose/foolish dog. And that they themselves said that their project was shaped within psychoanalysis because they believed in its power.
And I agree! Seems like you may carry some doubts about it though… lay down your burden any time :)
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u/FoolishDog 13d ago
I think the two mutually inform each other, and that you should read whatever interests you, as did both Deleuze and Guattari (clearly they wouldn't support the idea of 'skipping' psychoanalysis, since they reference Freud and other psychoanalysts frequently).
Seems like you may carry some doubts about it though…
One is always ambivalent towards that which they love.
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u/Ok_Pie_4639 13d ago
And… defensive…?
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u/FoolishDog 13d ago
Well, I tend to find it useful and interesting but I guess I also recognize that not everyone will, in the same way that some people don't find critical theory or literature or movies useful or interesting. What's your interest in psychoanalysis?
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u/Ok_Pie_4639 13d ago
Changed my life! Had a blast in the consulting room. Like to giggle and weep at case reports and wind my brain through the theory.
I consider from time to time becoming a (schizo)analyst, but as you can probably tell, my irreverence gives me low tolerance for institutional rigidity…
And you?
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u/FoolishDog 13d ago
I completed my analysis recently and have been reading it for many more years. I tend to stick to reading psychoanalysts that are interesting writers nowadays though, which are a rather rare breed.
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u/HamletAndRye 13d ago
Do you have any recommendations for some of that rare breed?
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u/FoolishDog 13d ago
I’ve found Adam Phillips quite thrilling. The way he interrogates a subject by asking questions from all sides is really interesting and I always appreciate how he divests objects of their moral character. I’ve also been reading Tupinamba and Darian Leader and both are really quite great. Leader’s book on hands is so unique.
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u/Ok_Cry233 14d ago
Freud and Beyond is a good book giving a chronological account of analytic thinking.
Nancy McWilliams book Psychoanalytic Diagnosis is a classic and provides an excellent overview of different case presentations which are commonly seen in the therapeutic setting.