Michael Balint addresses himself to a variety of subjects of interest to both the layman and the practicing clinical psychologist or psychiatrist: among others, sex and society, masturbation, discipline, menstruation, punishment, aging, and parapsychology.

The work of Michael Balint, a leading object-relations theorist, has been neglected since his death in 1970. This book re-establishes his major contributions to psychoanalysis.

Whilst Michael Balint's applied work is widely known, many of his theoretical contributions have been incorporated into everyday analysis without due recognition of their source. In this account of his thinking, Harold Stewart evaluates the extent of Balint's contribution to psychoanalysis and firmly re-establishes his place within the development of Object Relations theory. The first section examines Balint's theories of human psychological development, defining such concepts as primary love, ocnophilia and philobatia, the basic fault and the three areas of the mind. The author places Balint's understanding of the analyst's influence and technique in the context of his relationship with Sandor Ferenczi, his analyst and mentor. The second section of this work looks at how the "Balint Group" has contributed to the assessment and understanding of emotional problems in various areas, including general practice, marital work and psychosexual medicine. A charismatic teacher, Balint's method of work with General Practitioners has become an established worldwide institution. Features of this work, including the use of countertransference and the affective response of the doctor are vividly described here by two General Practitioners, Andrew Elder and Robert Gosling. Michael Balint: Object Relations, Pure and Applied brings alive Balint's teaching and practice and demonstrates the relevance of his theories to many of the problematic issues in current analytic practice.

Provides a new approach to psychological hedonism and applies it to the growing global epidemic of unhealthy behavior.

Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory provides a masterful overview of the central issue concerning psychoanalysts today: finding a way to deal in theoretical terms with the importance of the patient's relationships with other people. Just as disturbed and distorted relationships lie at the core of the patient's distress, so too does the relation between analyst and patient play a key role in the analytic process. All psychoanalytic theories recognize the clinical centrality of “object relations,” but much else about the concept is in dispute. In their ground-breaking exercise in comparative psychoanalysis, the authors offer a new way to understand the dramatic and confusing proliferation of approaches to object relations. The result is major clarification of the history of psychoanalysis and a reliable guide to the fundamental issues that unite and divide the field. Greenberg and Mitchell, both psychoanalysts in private practice in New York, locate much of the variation in the concept of object relations between two deeply divergent models of psychoanalysis: Freud's model, in which relations with others are determined by the individual's need to satisfy primary instinctual drives, and an alternative model, in which relationships are taken as primary. The authors then diagnose the history of disagreement about object relations as a product of competition between these disparate paradigms. Within this framework, Sullivan's interpersonal psychiatry and the British tradition of object relations theory, led by Klein, Fairbairn, Winnicott, and Guntrip, are shown to be united by their rejection of significant aspects of Freud's drive theory. In contrast, the American ego psychology of Hartmann, Jacobson, and Kernberg appears as an effort to enlarge the classical drive theory to accommodate information derived from the study of object relations. Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory offers a conceptual map of the most difficult terrain in psychoanalysis and a history of its most complex disputes. In exploring the counterpoint between different psychoanalytic schools and traditions, it provides a synthetic perspective that is a major contribution to the advance of psychoanalytic thought.

Michael Balint is above all known for the "Balint Groups", which came to be a generic term for groups involved with the training of doctors and caregivers in the patient-caregiver relationship. Despite this, the origin and full import of his work has been somewhat overlooked. Hélène Oppenheim-Gluckman provides us with a concise account of how reading Balint has enriched psychoanalytic theory and its practice by broadening the indications for the psychoanalytic cure and the debate on psychotherapies and the training to the professional care-giver-patient relation. Reading Michael Balint: A pragmatic clinician shows how Balint must be considered as one of the major figures in the British Independent School of psychoanalysis, along with Winnicott and Fairbairn. Oppenheim-Gluckman argues that his ideas, and the implications of his work with groups of medical practitioners, have remained hugely influential within modern psychoanalysis and training in medical psychology. Reading Michael Balint presents a clear overview of the main tenets of his work. It provides a fresh perspective on Balint’s contribution and its importance for modern object relations theory and practice and brief psychotherapy. It will be an invaluable resource for psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, counsellors and trainee psychoanalysts and doctors. Hélène Oppenheim-Gluckman is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and has a doctorate in fundamental psychopathology and practises in Paris. She is a member of the Société de Psychanalyse Freudienne, the Société Médicale Balint, and a Balint Group "leader". She has published several books and a number of articles in psychoanalytic, medical, psychiatric and political-cultural journals.

Pleasure, Reward, Preference: Their Nature, Determinants, and Role in Behavior covers the proceedings of a symposium by the same title, held at the Klarskovgaard Training Institute, near Korsør, Denmark, on June 5-9 1972, organized under the auspices of the Advisory Group on Human Factors of the Scientific Affairs Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This book is composed of 11 chapters, and starts with a historical perspective and review of the principal problems related to understanding the principles of pleasure, reward, and preference. The next chapters explore neurophysiological research with animals and the human cognitive phenomena. These topics are followed by discussions of the concept of exploratory choice, verbal judgment, the law of effects and an adaptation-level model for affectivity and perception. The concluding chapters provide examples of behavioristic theories and describe a process model of motivation to understand the complexity of cognition and predictability of behavior. These chapters also tackle the role of pleasure and reward in human motivation and learning, as well as present a metascientific frame of motivation. This text will prove useful to psychologists, behaviorist, and researchers.

New York Times bestseller • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • One of the Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year “It’s no exaggeration to say that Behave is one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read.” —David P. Barash, The Wall Street Journal "It has my vote for science book of the year.” —Parul Sehgal, The New York Times "Immensely readable, often hilarious...Hands-down one of the best books I’ve read in years. I loved it." —Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington Post From the bestselling author of A Primate's Memoir and the forthcoming Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will comes a landmark, genre-defining examination of human behavior and an answer to the question: Why do we do the things we do? Behave is one of the most dazzling tours d’horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted. Moving across a range of disciplines, Sapolsky—a neuroscientist and primatologist—uncovers the hidden story of our actions. Undertaking some of our thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, and war and peace, Behave is a towering achievement—a majestic synthesis of cutting-edge research and a heroic exploration of why we ultimately do the things we do . . . for good and for ill.

'Talking Over the Years' illuminates the psychodynamic theories of the 20th century & turns its attentions to the thorny issues of ageing & the complications of later life. It provides detailed descriptions of psychoanalytic theory together with the use of psychodynamic concepts in clinical practice.

Prepared by one of the world's leading authorities, Human Sexuality and its Problems remains the foremost comprehensive reference in the field. Now available in a larger format, this classic volume continues to address the neurophysiological, psychological and socio-cultural aspects of human sexuality and how they interact. Fully updated throughout, the new edition places a greater emphasis on theory and its role in sex research and draws on the latest global research to review the clinical management of problematic sexuality providing clear, practical guidelines for clinical intervention. Clearly written, this highly accessible volume now includes a new chapter on the role of theory, and separate chapters on sexual differentiation and gender identity development, transgender and gender non-conformity, and HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Human Sexuality and its Problems fills a gap in the literature for academics interested in human sexuality from an interdisciplinary perspective, as well as health professionals involved in the management of sexual problems. Long awaited new edition of the definitive reference text on human sexuality Addresses the neurophysiological, psychological and socio-cultural aspects of human sexuality and how they interact Examines the normal sexual experience and covers the various ways in which sex can be problematic, including dysfunctional, 'out of control', high risk and illegal sexual behaviour Reviews the clinical management of problematic sexuality and provides clear, practical guidelines for clinical intervention Presents a broad cross-disciplinary perspective of the subject area making the book suitable for all professionals involved in the field Presents a more theoretical approach to the study of human sexuality reflecting recent changes in research Includes a section on brain imaging to demonstrate the latest research findings in sexual arousal and to compare and contrast individuals with normal and low levels of sexual desire Discusses the use of sex as a mood regulator and the importance of current research in this area Discusses the impact on the internet on the modern sexual world Explores the relevance of transgender and gender non-conformity Contains a chapter on HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections Chapter on therapy fully updated to reflect the movement towards integration of psychological and pharmacological approaches to management Explores the complex relationships between anger, sexual arousal and sexual violence