The problem of how to understand and to treat masochism has plagued the vast majority of clinicians. The Clinical Problem of Masochism, edited by Deanna Holtzman, PhD, and Nancy Kulish, PhD, focuses on the common and difficult clinical problems posed by masochistic patients who are spread throughout all diagnostic categories. Foremost psychoanalytic clinicians in the field from various theoretical backgrounds demonstrate their approaches to working clinically with these problems. Each expert provides detailed clinical examples, making their approaches and suggestions come alive. This volume, unique in its varied clinical and practical focus, offers therapists of all theoretical persuasions ideas on how to think about and help individuals suffering from masochistic difficulties.

The problem of how to understand and to treat masochism has plagued the vast majority of clinicians. The Clinical Problem of Masochism, edited by Deanna Holtzman, PhD, and Nancy Kulish, PhD, focuses on the common and difficult clinical problems posed by masochistic patients who are spread throughout all diagnostic categories. Foremost psychoanalytic clinicians in the field from various theoretical backgrounds demonstrate their approaches to working clinically with these problems. Each expert provides detailed clinical examples, making their approaches and suggestions come alive. This volume, unique in its varied clinical and practical focus, offers therapists of all theoretical persuasions ideas on how to think about and help individuals suffering from masochistic difficulties.

A Story of Her Own is a reformulation of the psychoanalytic concept of the "female oedipal complex"-a term that encompasses the triangular development phase and the important conflicts and experiences in girls and women. Inspired by the mythic role in human experience and in the unique aspects of femininity, Nancy Kulish and Deanna Holtzman formulate a new name-"The Persephone Complex"-for this concept. They integrate traditional psychoanalytic theory, contemporary theories and data about female development and psychology, and clinical experience with female patients into a comprehensive theory that is not based on male models. With accumulated knowledge from their clinical work, they present new psychoanalytic and therapeutic perspectives on the experience of girls and women attempting to uncover a sense of agency in their lives. They touch upon the unique ways women cope with their sexuality and feelings about their bodies; with feelings of anger, competition, and jealousy; and with their ever-evolving relationships with their mothers, fathers, peers, and lovers.

A Story of Her Own is a reformulation of the psychoanalytic concept of the 'female oedipal complex'-a term that encompasses the triangular development phase and the important conflicts and experiences in girls and women. Inspired by the mythic role in human experience and in the unique aspects of femininity, Nancy Kulish and Deanna Holtzman formulate a new name-'The Persephone Complex'-for this concept. They integrate traditional psychoanalytic theory, contemporary theories and data about female development and psychology, and clinical experience with female patients into a comprehensive theory that is not based on male models. With accumulated knowledge from their clinical work, they present new psychoanalytic and therapeutic perspectives on the experience of girls and women attempting to uncover a sense of agency in their lives. They touch upon the unique ways women cope with their sexuality and feelings about their bodies; with feelings of anger, competition, and jealousy; and with their ever-evolving relationships with their mothers, fathers, peers, and lovers.

The loss of virginity is irreversible. Even God, who performs all sorts of miracles, parts the seas, raises the dead, cannot, according to our religious traditions, reverse its finality. Even in today's sexually permissive world, the loss of virginity is an important developmental milestone that marks the passage to adult sexuality. On one side of the threshold lies Peter Pan's never-never land, a world of perpetual childhood. On the other lies adult sexuality, procreation and parenthood, and ultimately death. This text focuses on the meanings of the loss of virginity. Using examples from myths, literature, and their extensive clinical practice, the authors demonstrate the importance of this milestone in understanding the psychology of women as well as the ways in which men relate to women.