Textbook of Applied Psychoanalysis

The Textbook of Applied Psychoanalysis is a unique and original contribution to the field of psychoanalysis. Emphasizing and underscoring the need for interdisciplinary discourse in understanding the dialectical relationship between mind and culture, this volume addresses a multiplicity of realms. These include anthropology, religion, philosophy, history, as well as evolutionary psychology, medicine, race, poverty, migration, and prejudice. Dimensions of social praxis such as education, health policy, and cyberpsychology are also addressed.

The enrichment of our understanding of the fine arts (e.g. painting, sculpture, poetry) and performing arts (e.g. music, dance, cinema) by the application of psychoanalytic principles and the enhancement of psychoanalysis by bringing such arts to bear upon it also form areas of this book’s concern. This magisterial volume brings distinguished psychoanalysts, philosophers, musicians, poets, businessmen, architects, and movie critics together to create a chorus of modern, anthropologically-informed and culturally sensitive psychoanalysis. Students and teachers of diverse disciplines of humanities, liberal arts, and mental health professions would find this book of immense use.

Salman Akhtar, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has served on the editorial boards of all the three major psychoanalytic journals, namely, the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the Psychoanalytic Quarterly. His more than 300 publications include 17 books – Broken Structures (1992), Quest for Answers (1995), Inner Torment (1999), Immigration and Identity (1999), New Clinical Realms (2003), Objects of Our Desire (2005), Regarding Others (2007), Turning Points in Dynamic Psychotherapy (2009), The Damaged Core (2009), Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (2009), Immigration and Acculturation (2011), Matters of Life and Death (2011), The Book of Emotions (2012), Psychoanalytic Listening (2013), Good Stuff (2013), Sources of Suffering (2014), and No Holds Barred (2016) – as well as 42 edited or co-edited volumes in psychiatry and psychoanalysis. Dr. Akhtar has delivered many prestigious addresses and lectures including, most recently, the Inaugural Address at the first IPA-Asia Congress in Beijing, China (2010). Dr. Akhtar is the recipient of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association's Best Paper of the Year Award (1995), the Margaret Mahler Literature Prize (1996), the American Society of Psychoanalytic Physicians’ Sigmund Freud Award (2000), the American College of Psychoanalysts’ Laughlin Award (2003), the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Edith Sabshin Award (2000), Columbia University’s Robert Liebert Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Psychoanalysis (2004), the American Psychiatric Association’s Kun Po Soo Award (2004), the Irma Bland Award for being the Outstanding Teacher of Psychiatric Residents in the country (2005), and the Nancy Roeske Award (2012). Most recently, he received the Sigourney Award (2013), which is the most prestigious honor in the field of psychoanalysis. He is an internationally-sought speaker and teacher, and his books have been translated in many languages, including German, Turkish, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian. A true Renaissance man, Dr Akhtar has served as the Film Review Editor for the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, and is currently serving as the Book Review Editor for the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. He has published 8 collections of poetry and serves as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia.