A collection of case studies from analysts who have treated patients who have committed serious acts of violence either against others or themselves.

Perelberg is well known and respected psycotherapist and is associate editor of the NLP Very little has been written on violence, as opposed to aggression and very little clinical material has been published on violent patients. Very distinguished list of contributors

Alessandra Lemma - Winner of the Levy-Goldfarb Award for Child Psychoanalysis! Relating to Self-Harm and Suicide presents original studies and research from contemporary psychoanalysts, therapists and academics focusing on the psychoanalytic understanding of suicide and self-harm, and how this can be applied to clinical work and policy. This powerful critique of current thinking suggests that suicide and self-harm must be understood as having meaning within interpersonal and intrapsychic relationships, offering a new and more hopeful dimension for prevention and recovery. Divided into three sections, the book includes: a theoretical overview examples of psychoanalytic practice with self-harming and suicidal patients applications of psychoanalytic thinking to suicide and self-harm prevention. Relating to Self-Harm and Suicide will be helpful to psychoanalytic therapists, analysts and mental health professionals wanting to integrate psychoanalytic ideas into their work with self-harmers and the suicidal. This text will also be of use to academics and professionals involved in suicidal prevention.

Although there is a vast literature on aggression, comparatively little has been written on the issue of violence and even fewer clinical discussions have been published on the violent patient. This pioneering book presents a collection of case studies on the intensive psychoanalytic treatment of patients who have committed serious acts of violence against themselves or others. Each detailed clinical account demonstrates the effectiveness of the psychoanalytic treatment and furthers our understanding of the nature of violence. The Psychoanalytic Understanding of Violence and Suicide also contains a comprehensive review of the existing literature on aggression and violence from America, England and France, presenting major themes contained in this literature which will be of interest to all those working with violent and suicidal patients.

Murdered Father, Dead Father: Revisiting the Oedipus Complex examines the progressive construction of the notion of paternal function and its central relevance in psychoanalysis. The distinction between the murdered (narcissistic) father and the dead father is seen as providing a paradigm for the understanding of different types of psychopathologies, as well as works of literature, anthropology and historical events. New concepts are introduced, such as "a father is being beaten", and a distinction between the descriptive après coup and the dynamic après coup that provides a model for a psychoanalytic understanding of temporality. The book includes a reflection on how the concepts of the death instinct and the negative, in their connection with that which is at the limits of representability, are an aid to an understanding of Auschwitz, a moment of rupture in European culture that the author characterizes as " the murder of the dead father". Perelberg’s book is an important clinical and intellectual marker, and will be required reading for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, anthropologists, and historians, as well as students in all these disciplines.

Working in the Dark focuses on the authors’ understanding of an individual’s pre-suicide state of mind, based on their work with many suicidal individuals, with special attention to those who attempted suicide while in treatment. The book explores how to listen to a suicidal individual’s history, the nature of their primary relationships and their conscious and unconscious communications. Campbell and Hale address the searing emotional impact on relatives, friends and those involved with a person who tries to kill themself, by offering advice on the management of a suicide attempt and how to follow up in the aftermath. Establishing key concepts such as suicide fantasy and pre-suicidal states in adolescents, the book illustrates the pre-suicide state of mind through clinical vignettes, case studies, reflections from those in recovery and discussions with professionals. Working in the Dark will be of interest to social workers, probation officers, nurses, psychologists, counsellors, psychotherapists, psychoanalysts and doctors who work with those who have attempted suicide or are about to do so.

What turns an apparently 'normal' individual into a killer? Many people who commit "rage type" murders have no history of violence. Using psychoanalytic theory and a number of case studies, this book isolates key psychological factors that appear to help explain why such acts of extreme violence occur. Starting from a psychoanalytic standpoint, Psychoanalysis, Violence and Rage-Type Murder argues for a pluralistic approach to understanding aggression, and claims that the origins of aggression have no single source or cause. Drawing broadly on psychological, criminological and psychoanalytic research the author outlines the clinical features of the act and explores the possible role that psychopathology and personality might play in the build up to murder. These observations raise a number of questions about the so-called 'normality' of the individual alongside the capacity to commit murder, and how we might understand the stability of such offenders. Psychoanalysis, Violence and Rage-Type Murder will be of great interest to psychotherapists, forensic psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, psychologists, criminologists and health care workers.

This book includes the work of 22 contributing writers in addition to the three primary authors, John F. Clarkin, Ph.D., Peter Fonagy, Ph.D., and Glen O. Gabbard, M.D. Each contributor has extensive clinical experience, and some also have research experience, with the assessment and treatment of specific personality disorders.

Why, when and how does aggression go wrong? How can we make sense of apparently meaningless destructiveness and violence Aggression is a part of human nature that energises our relationships, acts as an impetus for psychic development, and enables us to master our world. More often, we focus on its more destructive aspects, such as the violence individuals inflict on themselves or others and overlook the positive functions of aggression. In Aggression and Destructiveness Celia Harding brings together contributions from experienced psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists to explore the roots of aggression and the clinical dilemmas it presents in psychotherapy. Beginning with accounts of aggression and destructiveness from a range of developmental and theoretical perspectives, the book provides useful insights into subjects including: Bullying and abusive relationships Male and female violence and destructiveness Depressive, perverse and psychotic states of mind Attacks on therapeutic treatment This book makes a valuable contribution to the attempt to make sense of human aggression, destructiveness and violence perpetrated against the self, others and reality. It will be of great interest to trainee and qualified psychodynamic counsellors, psychoanalytic psychotherapists and psychoanalysts.