Enlivening the Self

<p>In psychoanalysis enlivenment is seen as residing in a sense of self and this sense of self is drawn from and shaped by lived experience. <i>Enlivening the Self: The First Year Clinical Enrichment and the Wandering Mind </i>describes the vitalizing and enrichment of self-experience throughout the life cycle and shows how active experience draws on many fundamental functional capacities and these capacities come together in support of systems of motivation; that is organized dynamic grouping of affects intentions and goals.</p><p>The book is divided into three essays:</p><p>Infancy – <strong>Joseph Lichtenberg</strong> presents extensive reviews of observation and research on the first year of life. Based on these reviews he delineates twelve foundational qualities and capacities of the self as a doer doing initiating and responding activating and taking in.</p><p>Exploratory therapy – <b>James L. Fosshage </b>looks where therapeutic change is entwined with development. There are many sources illustrated for enhancing the sense of self and <b>Frank M. Lachmann </b>pays particular attention to humor and to the role that the twelve qualities and capacities play in the therapeutic process.</p><p>The wandering mind – <b>Frank M. Lachmann </b>covers the neuroscience and observation that mind wandering is related to the immediacy of the sense of self linking now with past and future.</p><p>Throughout the book the authors’ arguments are illustrated with rich clinical vignettes and suggestions for clinical practice. This title will be a must for psychoanalysts including trainees in psychoanalysis psychiatry residents and candidates at psychoanalytic institutes and also graduate students in clinical and counselling psychology programs.</p>