This book provides a clear and accessible overview of the seminal
clinical thinking of Christopher Bollas.
Placing Bollas's writings besides those of analysts including Milner,
Bion, Winnicott, Lacan, and Green, Steven Jaron examines the central
concept of the unthought known in terms of unconscious communication in
the primary environment while occasioning a reworking of Oedipal
configurations. Through vivid narratives of character analyzing a range
of adult patients, at times requiring a rethinking of the conventional
psychoanalytic frame, Jaron offers a fresh perspective on Bollas in
arguing for the importance of considering not only the patient's self
experience but also the psychoanalyst's.
This important study will be rewarding to beginning and seasoned
analysts alike, offering suggestions for using Bollas' work in the
consulting room as well as when faced with the demands of civic life
today.