Psychoanalysis as biological science
Subtitle: a comprehensive theory
By: John E. Gedo
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press; The Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Baltimore
Language: eng
Number of pages: 189
Subjects: Psychoanalysis; Biological psychiatry
Description: In this study, the author asserts that biological information is essential to successful and comprehensive psychoanalysis. The first is devoted to the controversies surrounding psychoanalysis as a discipline. Beginning with an overview of Freud's enduring contributions to the field, Gedo discusses the importance of both mental contents and reliable, measurable psychobiological data -- suggesting that hermeneutics alone cannot yield valid hypotheses. Part 2 addresses each of the major topics of a comprehensive theory of mind, focusing on the accessibility of biological information. This information, he believes, makes an educated exploration of principal questions about behavioral regulation a viable enterprise. The final section integrates these theories into a comprehensive biological hypothesis about behavior and psychoanalytic treatment.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [175]-183) and index
Table of contents: title: The enduring scientific contributions of Sigmund Freud; title: Hermeneutics and biology in the psychoanalytic situation; title: Alternatives to Freud's biological theory; title: The psychoanalytic import of mental contents; title: Personality development and psychopathology; title: A hierarchy of motivations as self-organization; title: Trauma and its vicissitudes: disruption of self-organization; title: Breakdowns in information processing; title: Affectivity; title: Dreams and dreaming; title: The biopsychology of early experience; title: Disorders of thought; title: Object relations; title: Permutations of sexuality; title: The regulation of behavior; title: Learning and adaptation; title: The psychoanalytic process; title: Unsolved problems