Title: The many faces of abuse
First published: 1998
Description: The subject is emotional abuse - the ongoing process whereby one person attempts to destroy the will, needs, desires, or perceptions of another. The object is the well-educated, high-functioning professional woman. Dr. Joan Lachkar examines the origins and early warning signs of the psychological violation she describes as a dance between abuser and abused. She introduces typologies of each (the narcissistic or passive-aggressive abuser, the unentitled self) and explores the bases for their collusive attachments. Addressing therapeutic functions like empathy, containment, and counter-transference, and following a couple's evolution from a state of fusion through transitional two-ness to emerging separateness, dependent and interdependent, Dr. Lachkar applies her psychodynamic approach to treatment, informed by object relations and self psychology, and complete with guidelines for technique and practical suggestions for the couple.
Subjects: Psychologically abused women, Abusive men, Psychological abuse, Marital psychotherapy, Personality disorders
LC classification: RC569.5.P75 L33 1998