Psychoanalysis On and Off the Couch
Health & Fitness:Mental Health
"The goal is to find magic which is not psychotic, to find a form of magic which isn’t simply the denial of reality. The nonpsychotic form of magic is play. The analyst and the patient have to learn to be able to play together in that transitional realm."
Description: Dr. Harvey Schwartz welcomes Dr. Joel Whitebook. Dr. Whitebook is a philosopher and a psychoanalyst and is on the faculty of the Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research where he was the Director of the University’s Psychoanalytic Studies Program. Dr. Whitebook’s research centers on the attempt to integrate psychoanalysis and critical theory in the tradition of the Frankfurt School. Dr. Whitebook is widely published but is mostly known for his masterwork, Freud: An Intellectual Biography. In this work he brings together his philosophical and psychoanalytic ear and insightfulness to provide an overview and a deep understanding of Freud’s development.
In today’s conversation, Drs. Whitebook and Schwartz speak about magic in the history of psychoanalysis, and as it relates to religion, transference, play, and the healing process in general. Enjoy this simply fascinating talk.
Key takeaways:
[9:44] Dr. Whitebook talks about what he learned about magic.
[10:28] Enlightenment, magic, and disenchantment.
[14:05] Dr. Whitebook talks about the often denied origins of psychoanalysis.
[15:48] Dr. Whitebook explains the way in which psychoanalysis emerged out of hypnosis.
[17:03] Hypnosis is an example of transference.
[18:15] Psychoanalysis was born because of the way it repudiated suggestion.
[19:55] Drs. Whitebook and Schwartz explore the concept of analytic magic/transference/love.
[21:50] Transference and countertransference as vehicles for insight.
[23:05] Enactment as a way of producing the material that then can be analyzed to achieve insight.
[25:01] Dr. Winnicott’s criticism of Freud’s notion of illusion.
[28:09] The two principles of mental functioning.
[29:48] Embracing external reality while respecting the forces of enchantment.
[33:16] The desecularization of the world.
[34:10] Dr. Whitebook talks about how magic is and has been immersed in his work.
[36:20] Dr. Whitebook shares how he tried to untangle Freud’s objections to religions.
[38:25] Freedom of speech occupies a central role in psychoanalysis.
[39:43] Freud, Judaism, and psychoanalysis.
Mentioned in this episode:
IPA Off the Couch www.ipaoffthecouch.org
Learn more about Dr. Joel Whitebook
Recommended Readings:
Perversion and Utopia: Studies in Psychoanalysis and Critical Thinking, (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought), Joel Whitebook
Freud: An Intellectual Biography, , Chapters, 8, 9, 11 & 13. Joel Whitebook
Slow Magic: Psychoanalysis and the Disenchantment of the World. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 50, no. 4 (2002): 1197-1217. Joel Whitebook
Jacob's Ambivalent Legacy. .American Imago (2010): 139-155. Joel Whitebook
Freud on Religion, (Acumen, 2104), Chapt, 4. Marsha Alleen Hewitt
Psychoanalysis and Magic: Then and now. American Imago (2009): 471-489. Mikita Brottman
Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Federick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment, (Harper: 2016). James Gaines (This is a marvelous book that explores the fate of Bach's enchanted world of music when it encountered the Enlightenment.)
'Splitting' in Our Political and Social Discourse: Psychoanalytic Considerations with Ronald Doctor, MD (London)
An Elder Shares his Legacy with Gilbert Kliman, MD
Meet the IPA's New President: Harriet Wolfe, MD
Off the Couch and into the Political Arena with John, Lord Alderdice FRCPsych (Oxford)
Why Do We Read Books? Literature and Psychoanalysis with Merav Roth, Ph.D.
The 4th Wall and the Movable Analytic Frame with Isacc Tylim, PsyD
Presidential Reflections on Psychoanalysis with Virginia Ungar, MD (Buenos Aires)
Fifty Years On, a Survivor of Torture Reflects on his Therapeutic Practice with John Schlapobersky, BA MSc (London)
The Return to the Office with Marilia Aisenstein, Part II
Cultural Complexity: Palestinian Therapist - Jewish Patient with Roney Srour, PhD
Large Groups, Diplomacy, and Psychoanalysis with Vamik Volkan, MD
Wisdom and Enthusiasm for Today's Candidates with Fred Busch, PhD
A Psychoanalytic Consideration of Mass Murder - the Norway Experience with Dr. philos. Siri Erika Gullestad
Psychoanalysis during Wartime: The Israeli Experience with Yolanda Gampel, PhD
An Independent Thinker: Joel Whitebook Interviews Fred Pine
The Elder Analyst with Malkah Notman, MD
Repairing the Other - Our Planet with Sally Weintrobe
Thoughts about Termination with Judy Kantrowitz, PhD
A Psychoanalytic COVID Workbook for Children in South Africa with Jennifer Davids, M.Sc.
Psychoanalytic Curiosity and Boundaries with Philip Stokoe (London)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Good Mood Revolution
Your Sleep Guru Podcast
Anxiety Slayer™ with Shann and Ananga
Men Do Talk Podcast
The Dr. John Delony Show
On Purpose with Jay Shetty