Ever since the first publication of Freud's ideas, the scientific status, therapeutic efficacy and morality of psychoanalysis have come under attack from an often sceptical public and from certain sections of the academic community. Yet psychoanalysis has grown in public stature over the last century. It is held in high regard by many important thinkers for its valuable exploration and interpretation of human development in all its aspects. In academic disciplines ranging from literary criticism and feminist studies to psychotherapy, psychoanalysis is regarded as a key building block in understanding human subjectivity.
In this book, Stephen Frosh presents the arguments surrounding the therapeutic value and scientific standing of psychoanlaysis and examines its potency as a contributor to debates around gender, identity contructions, sexual orientation and racism. He asks whether psychoanalysis deepens our understanding of human functioning, whether it is consistent with its own theories, and how it relates to the pressures of culture and society.
Essential reading for psychoanalysts, counsellors and psychotherapists, For and Against Psychoanalysis provides a first-class introduction to the ideas behind psychoanalysis and the place it occupies in the modern world.
'I very much enjoyed the first edition of For and Against Psychoanalysis. This new, updated edition is even more enjoyable. It is immensely readable because of the frankness, wit, verve, and seriousness with which Stephen Frosh details the fascinations and frustrations of the continuing ramifications of Freud's discovery of unconscious fantasy. The result is a book which is both an exciting introduction to the current philosophical, clinical, and social impact of Freudian and post-Freudian psychoanalysis, and also a very welcome and refreshing reminder to its teachers and practitioners of its problems and potential.' - Janet Sayers, Professor of Psychoanalytic Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury
'The in-your-face title masks the most subtle, nuanced and balanced discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of psychoanalysis as treatment, theoretical perspective and social influence. Frosh admits to his biases and enthusiasms and wears his learning lightly. Hence the second edition of this much-admired book will be of continuing use to students and trainees as well as to faculty and qualified psychotherapists and counsellors.' - Andrew Samuels, Professor of Analytical Psychology, University of Essex
‘In this second edition of For And Against Psychoanalysis, Stephen Frosh has scrupulously reworked the earlier text. The second edition retains the remarkable breadth and scope of the original, while expanding and updating Frosh’s overview to include additional subject areas, such as ways in which psychoanalysis has contributed to the examination of social issues.’ – Bruce Reis, Psychologist-Psychoanalyst, Fall 2007
