Table of Contents

A Theory of Psychic Retreats. Psychic Retreats. The Paranoid-schizoid and Depressive Positions. Review: Narcissistic Object Relations and Pathological Organisations of the Personality. The Recovery of Parts of the Self Lost Through Projective Identification: The Role of Mourning. The Retreat to a Delusional World: Psychotic Organisations of the Personality. Pathological Organisations as a Defence Against Depressive Pain and Guilt. The Relationship to Reality in Psychic Retreats. Perverse Relationships in Pathological Organisation. Two Types of Pathological in Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus. Problems of Psychoanalytic Technique: Patient-centred and Analyst-centred Interpretations

About the Author

John Steiner is a member of the British Psycho-Analytical Society and a Consultant Psychotherapist at the Tavistock Clinic, London.

Reviews

"All practitioners at times struggle with the pathologically organised mind and will be relieved and heartened by this book, and those students who complain that the authors of clinical papers never declare what they actually say in sessions will find nothing to grumble about." - British Journal of Psychotherapy"This is a very clearly and concisely written book about patients who are very difficult to reach. Its great strength lies in the way that Steiner convincingly brings together detailed clinical description and the theoretical concepts informing his work ... I wholeheartedly recommend it to a wide readership." - Chris Mawson