Lives of the Unconscious. A Podcast on Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

Latest Episodes:

Episode 21: The Long Shadow of Trauma – Transgenerational Transmission Oct 31, 2021

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Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: “A trauma does not disappear through silence; it cannot be silenced out of existence. It remains effective in fantasies, dreams, and experiences, but eludes language and thus understanding. It only becomes more diffuse, more intangible; it becomes a shadow or an undead, casting an invisible spell over the family history… But how do you break a spell?”

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Literature Recommendations:

Balint, M. (1969). Trauma and object relationship. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 50(4), 429–435.
Bar-On, D. (1993). Legacy of Silence: Encounters with Children of the Third Reich. Harvard: Harvard University Press
Faimberg, H. (1987). The Telescoping of Generations: Listening to the Narcissistic Links Between Generations (The New Library Of Psychoanalysis). London: Routledge.
Grimbert, P. (2012). Secret. London: Portobello Books.
Grubrich-Simitis, I. (1981). Extreme Traumatization as Cumulative Trauma: Psychoanalytic Investigations of the Effects of Concentration Camp Experiences on Survivors and Their Children. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 36, 415–450. -Rosenthal, G. (2009): The Holocaust in Three-Generations. Families of Victims and Perpetrators of the Nazi-Regime. Opladen: Barbara Budrich.

Episode 20: Trauma – The wounded soul. Post-traumatic disorders. Oct 15, 2021

Show notes

Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: “It is important to emphasize that in every victim of trauma there is a desire for vitality and healing. Consciously and unconsciously, the injured psyche tries to understand what has happened, to mitigate the destructiveness, and to reintegrate it into one’s own identity.”

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Literature Recommendations:

Balint, M. (1969). Trauma and object relationship. The International Jou-nal of Psychoanalysis, 50(4), 429–435.
Ferenczi, S.(1949). Confusion of the Tongues Between the Adults and the Child— (The Language of Tenderness and of Passion). International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 30, 225–230.
Sokolowsky, L. & Maleval, J. (2012). Freud’s Contribution to War Neuroses: Between Theory, Clinical Analysis, and Ethics. Cliniques méditerranéennes, 86, 209–218.
Reddemann, L. (2020). Who You Were Before Trauma. The Healing Power of Imagination for Trauma Survivors. New York: The Experiment.
Simmel, E. (1921). On the psychoanalysis and the war neuroses. London: International Psychoanalytic Press.

Episode 19: Trauma – The wounded soul. Early childhood trauma Oct 01, 2021

Show notes

Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: “What remains unresolved in the mind knows no time.” This episode is the first of a three-part series on the psychoanalysis of trauma. In the first part we will hear about attachment and early childhood trauma and the impact it can have on our psychological development.

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Literature Recommendations:

Allen, J. G. (2013). Mentalizing in the Development and Treatment of Attachment Trauma. London: Routledge.
Baradon, T. (2010). Relational Trauma in Infancy: Psychoanalytic, Attachment and Neuropsychological Contributions to Parent-Infant Psychotherapy. London: Routledge.
Boschan, P. J. (2008). Childhood and trauma. Am J Psychoanal, 2008 Mar; 68(1):24-32.
Bohleber, W. (2000): The development of trauma theory in psychoanalysis. Psyche 54(9):797–839.
Brisch, K.H. (2002): Treating Attachment Disorders: From Theory to Therapy. New York: Guilfort.
Ferenczi, S. (1909): Introjection and transference. In First Contributions to Psychoanalysis. London: Hogarth, 1952.
Ferenczi, S. (1916): Two types of war neuroses. In Further Contributions to the Theory and Technique of Psycho-Analysis. London: Hogarth, 1926, pp. 124–141.
Freud S (1920) Beyond the pleasure principle. In: Strachey J (Ed.), New York (US): WW Norton, 1961.

Summer break Aug 08, 2021

Show notes

Lives of the Unconscious

We wish you a relaxing summer!

See you soon

Your Lives-of-the-Unconscious-Team

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Episode 18: Healing Through Understanding—How psychoanalysis works Aug 01, 2021

Show notes

Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: “And how is this supposed to work here?” This is the question that quite a few patients ask at the beginning of psychotherapy. How psychotherapy works—especially psychoanalytic treatment—is, at first glance, more difficult to explain than, say, the effect of a medical procedure. A physicians has instruments, to operate on a broken leg, prescribes exercises or drugs, for example an antibiotic. The patient soon feels better and the therapy has worked. But what is it like in psychotherapy? Psychoanalysts have no book with therapy instructions, no exercises; they don’t have any pills in the cupboard or anything else that they can conjure up from some therapeutic toolbox. What, after all, is the “drug” in psychoanalysis? In psychoanalysis the principle is: healing through understanding. But the questions remains: How can understanding cure a disease? In this episode we will explore the answer to this question.

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Literature Recommendations:

Bion, W. R. (1984). Learning from Experience. ‎ Routledge
Jimenez, J. P. (2012). The manifest dream is the real dream: the changing relationship between theory and practice in the interpretation of dreams. In: Fonagy, P., Kächele, H., Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. & Taylor, D. (eds.). The significance of dreams: Bridging clinical and extraclinical research in psychoanalysis. London (Karnac Books), 31-48.
Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. (2012). Changes in dreams - from a psychoanalysis with a traumatised, chronic depressed patient. In: Fonagy, P., Kächele, H., Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. & Taylor, D. (eds.). The significance of dreams: Bridging clinical and extraclinical research in psychoanalysis. London (Karnac Books), 49-85.
Kächele, H., Eberhardt, J. & Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. (1999). Expressed relationships, dream atmosphere & problem solving in Amalia´s dreams – Dream series as process tool to investigate cognitive changes. A single case study. In: Kächele, H., Mergenthaler, E. & Krause, R. (Hg.) Psychoanalytic Process Research Strategies II.
Riesenberg-Malcolm, R. (2001). Bion's Theory of containment
Winnicott, D. W. (1994). Holding and Interpretation: Fragment of an Analysis. Grove Atlantic

Episode 17: Repression, Rationalization, Sublimation – The “mature” defense mechanisms. Jul 16, 2021

Show notes

Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: Over the course of a therapeutic session, a depressed patient talks about his work colleagues with whom he is working on a group project for his studies. The patient says: "Yesterday we wanted to meet to discuss our project and everyone brought their work. As we were exchanging ideas, I noticed that everyone else was already much further along with their work than me. I have the feeling that they are all much faster in thinking and have more energy and…,” the patient takes a short break and then says: “Well, but that's just the way it is, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. There is nothing that can done about it…" What is the defense here? And is it really functional? We will hear more about these and other forms of so-called "mature" defense mechanisms in this episode.

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Literature Recommendations:

Freud, A. (1936/1994). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence. London: Routledge.
Freud, S. (1896). Further remarks on the neuropsychoses of defence. Standard Edition (Vol. 3, pp. 162–185). London: Hogarth.
Freud, S. (1915). Repression. Standard Edition (Vol. 14, pp. 141–158). London: Hogarth.
Bornstein, M. (2013). Dissociation and repression: a clinical study. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 33(5), 439–448.
Cohen, J., & Kinston, W. (1984). Repression theory: A new look at the cornerstone. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 65, 411–422.
Vaillant, G. E., Bond, M., & Vaillant, C. O. (1986). An empirically validated hierarchy of defence mechanisms. Archives of General Psychiatry, 73, 786–794.

Episode 16: Denial, Splitting, Projection – The early defense mechanisms Jul 03, 2021

Show notes

Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: The division head of a company has called an important meeting. All employees are present at the agreed upon time, except for the boss. Only once an employee calls him does he remember the meeting and arrives significantly late. He apologizes cursorily and begins the meeting. In the next few minutes, in front of the assembled team, he criticizes specific employees unusually harshly for their work performance and for their failures until they feel very small and humiliated. What is the function of the boss’ defense? And why is it called an early defense mechanism in psychoanalysis? More on this episode.

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Literature Recommendations:

Freud, A. (1936/1994). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence. London: Routledge.
Bion, W. R. (1959). Attacks on linking. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 40, 308–315.
Grant, J. (2002). Transference and Projection: Mirrors to the Self. Maidenhead (UK): Open University Press.
Kernberg O (1967). "Borderline personality organization". J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 15 (3): 641–85.
Klein, M. (1998). Love, Guilt and Reparation. New York: Vintage.
Klein, M. (1946). Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. In: Envy and gratitude and other works: 1946–1963 (pp. 1–24). New York: Free Press, 1986.
Kramer, U. (2010). Coping and defence mechanisms: What's the difference? - Second act. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. 83 (Pt 2): 207–221.
Milton, J. (2020). Essential Readings from the Melanie Klein Archives: Original Papers and Critical Reflections. London: Routledge.
Sandler, J. (1988). Projection, Identification, Projective Identification. London: Routledge.
Vaillant, G. E., Bond, M., & Vaillant, C. O. (1986). An empirically validat-ed hierarchy of defence mechanisms. Archives of General Psychiatry, 73, 786–794.

Episode 15: Compulsion, Obsessiveness, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Jun 18, 2021

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Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: Everyone has their rituals that they insist upon observing more or less fastidiously and, if interrupted, would react to sensitively. From adhering to a particular daily routine, say, before an important exam or a date to athletes who cross themselves, put on their lucky socks, or perform some other ritual before competing. Among the so-called obsessive-compulsive disorders there is a set of symptoms that those afflicted must follow by virtue of some inner compulsion, even when they do not want to—and which massively interferes with their ability to enjoy and cope with life, whereby there is no sharp distinction between normal and pathological compulsiveness. Contemporary psychodynamic conceptions have worked out various aspects of obsessive-compulsive disorders and the psychological function they fulfil.

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Literature Recommendations:

Abraham, K (1921). Contributions to the theory of the anal character. In: Stein, D.J, Stone, M. H. (Ed) (1997). Essential papers on obsessive-compulsive disorders. New York: New York University Press.
Cela, J.A. (1995): A classical case of severe obsessive compulsive defense. Modern Psychoanalysis 20, 271–277.
Cooper, S. (2000): Obsessional thinking – A defense against loss. Brit J Psychother 16, 412–423.
Esman, A.E. (2001): Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Current views. Psy-choanal Inq 21, 145–156.
Freud, S. (1909). Notes upon a case of obsessional neurosis. Standard Edition (Vol. 10, pp. 155–318). London: Hogarth.
Gabbard, G. (2001): Psychoanalytically informed approaches to the treat-ment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychoanal Inq 21, 208-221.
Lang, Hermann (2015). Der gehemmte Rebell. Struktur, Psychodynamik und Therapie von Menschen mit Zwangsstörungen [the inhibited rebel. Structure, psychodynamics and therapy of obsessive-compulsive disorders] Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.
Leichsenring, F. & Steinert, C. (2016): Psychodynamic therapy of obsessive-compulsive disorder: Principles of a manual-guided approach. World Psy-chiatry 15, 293–294.
Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. (2001): The »Medea fantasy«: An unconscious determinant of psychogenic sterility. Int J Psychoanal 82, 323–345.
Leuzinger-Bohleber, M., Kallenbach, L., Asseburg, L., Lebiger-Vogel, J., & Rickmeyer, C. (2017). Psychoanalytische Fokaltherapien für Patienten mit Zwangsstörungen? [Focal psychoanalytic therapies for patients with compulsive disorders?]. Psyche, 71(8), 704–732.
Stein, D. (1997). Essential Papers on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. New York: UP.
Thompson, J.M., Baxter, L.R. & Schwartz, J.M. (1992): Freud, obsessive-compulsive disorder and neurobiology. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought 15, 483–505.
Weiß, Heinz (2013). The explosion of present and the encapsulation of time. Transference phenomena in the analysis of a psychotic patient. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 94, 1057–1075.
Weissman, P. (1954): Ego & superego in obsessional character neurosis. Psychoanal Quart 23, 529–543.

Episode 14: The Oedipus Complex. Timeless or obsolete? Jun 04, 2021

Show notes

Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: When this term comes into play, all analytical alarm bells start going off: Oedipus Complex. This concept seems to epitomize everything disreputable in all those abysmally-fanciful psychoanalytic concepts, which conflate childhood and sexuality and which give birth to concepts such as castration anxiety, penis envy, incestuous desire. But what exactly is the Oedipus complex about? And is the concept still relevant for psychoanalysis today?

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Literature Recommendations:

Boschan, P. (1990). Temporality and Narcissism. Int. Rev. Psycho-Anal., 17, 337–349.
Deleuze, G., Guattari, F. (1972/2009). Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. London: Penguin.
Fonagy, P., Krause, R., Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. (2006). Identity, Gender, and Sexuality. 150 Years after Freud. London: International Psychoanalytic Association.
Freud S (1924). The dissolution of the Oedipus complex. Standard Edition, 19, 172–179.
Laplanche, J. (1999). Masochism and the Theory of Generalized Seduction. Essays on otherness, Warwick Studies in European Philosophy. London: Routledge.
Lemma, A., Lynch, P.E. (Hg.) (2015). Sexualities. Contemporary Psy-choanalytic Perspectives. London: Routledge.
Loewald, H. (2000). The Waning of the Oedipus Complex. J Psychother Pract Res. 2000 Fall; 9(4): 239–249
Ogden, T. (2018). The Primitive Edge of Experience. London: Routledge.
Pederson, T. (2015). The Economics of Libido: Psychic Bisexuality, the Superego, and the Centrality of the Oedipus Complex. London: Karnac.
Solms, M. (2018). The Neurobiological Underpinnings of Psychoanalytic Theory and Therapy. Front. Behav. Neurosci.
Vogt, R. (1986). Psychoanalyse zwischen Mythos und Aufklärung oder: Das Rätsel der Sphinx [Psychoanalysis between myth and enlightment or: the riddle of the Sphinx]. Frankfurt a.M.: Qumran.

Episode 13: Borderline—A balancing act between psychological extremes May 21, 2021

Show notes

Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: Children are existentially reliant upon their primary caregivers concerning almost every sphere of life and, most of all, in relation to their need for love. If the caregivers are also those who attack this psychological survival, children face an unanswerable situation that has disastrous consequences for psychological development. According to the psychoanalytic understanding, borderline is a severe structural disorder that often originates in early attachment experiences that were devastating or traumatic. Characteristic symptoms, as is common for instance with so-called “cutting” or “black-and-white thinking”, thus represent organizational attempts—once again stabilizing and maintaining fragile self-states at moments in which inner emptiness and dissolution are felt. In this episode, we will move into the borderlands of the psyche, and try to understand some of the extreme experiential states of emotional experience and experience of the self.

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Join our newsletter: Write a mail with the subject "Newsletter registration" to Lives@psy-cast.org

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Literature Recommendations:

Bollas, C. (2021). Three Characters: Narcissist, Borderline, Manic Depressive. Phoenix Publishing House.
Bateman, A., Fonagy, P. (2006). Mentalization-based Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Practical Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bateman, A., Krawitz, O. (2015). Borderline Personality Disorder: An Evidence-based Guide for Generalist Mental Health Professionals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. New York: Guilford.
Kernberg, O. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism, New York: Jason Aronson.
Kernberg, O. (1984). Severe personality disorders: Psychotherapeutic strate-gies, New Haven, Yale University Press.
Kernberg, Otto (1989). A psychoanalytic classification of character pathology. In R. F. Lax (Ed.) Essential papers in psychoanalysis. Essential papers on character neurosis and treatment (p. 191–210). New York University Press.
Kernberg, Otto, Michels, Robert (2009). Borderline Personality Disorder. The American Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09020263
Rosenfeld, H. (1987). Impasse and Interpretation: Therapeutic and Anti-Therapeutic Factors in the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Psychotic, Borderline and Neurotic Patients. London: Routledge.
Steiner, J. (1993). Psychic Retreats: Pathological Organisations in Psychotic, Neurotic and Borderline Patients. London: Routledge.
West, M. (2016). Into the Darkest Places: Early Relational Trauma and Borderline States of Mind. London: Routledge.
Yeomans, F.E., Clarkin, J.F., Kernberg, O. (2015). Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder. Philadelphia (US): American Psychiatric Publishing.

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