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Besides Family: Extending the Orbit of Psychic Development

Editor : Salman Akhtar, Editor : April Fallon, Editor : Rama Rao Gogineni

Reviews and Endorsements

This edited volume by Salman Akhtar and his colleagues methodically addresses the often neglected developmental impact of relationships with people other than one’s parents and siblings. This is a fresh topic indeed. For all of us who constantly strive to understand ourselves and our patients, a thoughtfully compiled collection of papers on this novel orbit of psychic development is a superb gift.
Aisha Abbasi, MD, Training and Supervising Analyst, Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute; Author of Rupture of Serenity: External Intrusions and Psychoanalytic Technique

Besides Family uncovers an important lacuna in psychoanalytic literature. It reveals fertile furrows to plough in this wide-ranging and engaging book.
Jonathan Sklar, FRCPsych, Training Analyst, British Psychoanalytical Society; Author of Dark Times: Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Politics, History and Mourning

As psychoanalysts, our emphasis has traditionally been on the effects of various family members on psychic development. Non-familial figures important for ego growth have been neglected. Such “significant others” differ for each of us but it is valuable for the clinician to know which “others” support a person undergoing psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. Besides Family stimulated me to think more deeply about my internally significant others and pay closer attention to such presences in the lives of my patients.
Mary Kay O’Neil, PhD, Training and Supervising Analyst, Toronto Institute of Psychoanalysis; Author of Mothering Alone: A Plea for Opportunity

A short review cannot do justice to each chapter, suffice to say that the contents covered are- nannies, neighbours, school teachers, playmates/friends, clergy, adolescent peers, lovers and professional mentors. The observations are wide ranging [...] Akhtar’s chapter, like all his writing, is comprehensive in scope [...] This is a valuable publication and traces an expanding ‘orbit’ worth following and important to do so.
Martin Weegmann, Psychodynamic Practice, 2024

Every chapter taught me something new. [...] An overarching theme is a belief in the strength of the individual's developmental drive, that desire to repeat the past but find a different outcome. The chapter on lovers is a good example of this with eight beautiful clinical vignettes illustrating the movement over the lifespan towards mature love. Psychopathology is not ignored but the emphasis is on opportunities for growth. This is an accessible and thoughtful book that illustrates the wisdom of the old African saying it quotes: "It takes a village to raise a child".
Jane Cooper, MBACP (Snr Accred), former senior counsellor in higher education, BACP Therapy Today, May 2024, 35:4