This book presents a simple, effective and illuminating way of understanding and working with dreams in clinical practice. It describes the mechanisms through which the mind/brain processes our experience and forms symbols, which embody a rich network of associations. It demonstrates how the dream and this network of associations can apply on a num

This book explores the underlying mechanisms of the psyche. It traces the development of the individual and, in particular, the development of the sense of self, which is understood to be intimately related to the individual's object relations and to play a crucial role in core clinical phenomena. The book outlines a new perspective on identity and affect which sheds light into the heartland of analytic theory, providing fresh insights into narcissism, and narcissistic, borderline, hysteric, and schizoid psychopathologies.

Feeling, Being and the Sense of Self weaves together three main threads. The first concerns identity and the significance of variations in the individual's sense of self. The second is an account of the nature and functioning of the non-verbal self, rooted in the nature of affect and the functioning of an "affective appraisal mechanism," located in the brainstem and the right hemisphere of the brain. The third is a theory of narcissism, which is understood to underlie all other psychopathologies, and to follow from the functioning of the affective appraisal mechanism.While the book's origins and premises are simple, its implications and applications are far-reaching. The simple origins concern observations of certain phenomena, observable primarily in borderline, hysteric, and narcissistic states, although also very much a feature of everyday life: that the more deeply an individual feels something, the more certain, real, and true it feels to him or her, but that, paradoxically, the less of a sense of "I" he or she has. The clinical implications of this are enormous, and tell us a great deal about identity and the range of psychic experience and forms of relating.

This book explores the roots of borderline states of mind in early relational trauma and shows how it is possible, and necessary, to visit 'the darkest places' in order to work through these traumas. This is despite the fact that re-experiencing such traumas is unbearable for the patient and they naturally want to enlist the analyst in ensuring that they will never be experienced again. This is the backdrop for the extreme pressures and roles that are constellated in the analysis that can lead to impasse or breakdown of the analytic relationship. The author explores how these areas can be negotiated safely and that, whilst drawing heavily on recent developments in attachment, relational, trauma and infant development theory, an analytic attitude needs to be maintained in order to integrate these experiences and allow the individual to feel, finally, accepted and whole. The book builds on Freud's views of repetition compulsion and re-enactment and develops Jung's concept of the traumatic complex.

Dreams work on the emotional raw material of our life experience and an ability to work with them is an essential tool for the counsellor, psychotherapist and analyst. This book is the fifth in the series of SAP monographs that aim to provide a practical guide to core concepts and concerns in clinical practice. The book offers a simple, effective and practical method of exploring, understanding and working with dreams which illuminates the rich layers of their symbolic meaning. It outlines and explores the core theoretical models relating to dreams Jungian, Freudian and postKleinian as well as the findings from dream research laboratories and neuroscience. It charts and engages with the longrunning disputes and conflicts within and between these fields. The contemporary model outlined focuses on the network of associations related to the dream image and narrative, and unpacks the multiple layers and levels of symbolic meaning. This model is particularly helpful in showing how dreams can illuminate early patterns of relating that can otherwise be especially difficult to access. The book offers a comprehensive guide to the subject of dreaming and will be of interest to both trainees and experienced practitioners.