Psychic Retreats: Pathological Organisations in Psychotic, Neurotic and Borderline Patients
Book Details
- Publisher : Routledge
- Published : 1993
- Cover : Paperback
- Category :
Psychoanalysis - Catalogue No : 2013
- ISBN 13 : 9780415099240
- ISBN 10 : 0415099242
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Psychic Retreats are states of mind to which patients can withdraw to evade anxiety and mental pain. The patient who does so excessively gets drawn into a tight knit web of relationships which become organised into a complex structure called a pathological organisation of the personality. This leads to the patient being "Stuck" in their life and in their analysis. Using current Kleinian theory, John Steiner examines how Psychic Retreats are constructed and how analysts can treat them.