Often overlooked because he is so easy to mock, ridicule, or just plain
misunderstand, Freud introduced many techniques for clinical practice
that are still widely employed today. Yet surprisingly, there has never
been a clinical introduction to Freud's work that might be of use to
students and professionals in their everyday lives and careers. Until
now.
Bruce Fink, who is his generation's most respected translator of Lacan's
work and a profound interpreter of Freud's, has written the definitive
clinical introduction to Freud. This book presents Freud in an eminently
usable way, providing readers with a plethora of examples from everyday
life and clinical practice illustrating the insightfulness and continued
applicability of Freud's ideas.
The overriding focus is on techniques Freud developed for going directly
toward the unconscious, illustrating how we can employ them today and
perhaps even improve on them. Fink also lays out many of Freud's
fundamental concepts--such as repression, isolation, displacement,
anxiety, affect, free association, repetition, obsession, and
wish-fulfillment--and situates them in highly applicable clinical
contexts.
The emphasis throughout is on the myriad techniques developed by Freud
that clinicians of all backgrounds and orientations can draw upon to put
in their therapy toolbox, whether or not they identify as Freudians.
With references ranging from Star Trek and the Moody Blues to hard
drives and unicorns, Bruce Fink's elegant writing brings Freud into
sharp focus for clinicians of all backgrounds. To readers who ask with
an open mind Does this approach allow me to see anything that I had not
seen before in my clinical work? this book will offer many new
insights.
