Interpersonal Boundaries
Variations and Violations
Contributions by Jennifer Bonovitz, Phyllis Tyson, Ruth Garfield, Glen Gabbard, Ira Brenner, Ilany Kogan, Henri Parens Edited by Salman Akhtar professor of psychiatry
Publication date:
16 February 2006Length of book:
128 pagesPublisher
Jason Aronson, Inc.Dimensions:
231x156mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9780765704023
Across the lifespan we may experience moments of sublime intimacy, suffocating closeness, comfortable solitude, and intolerable distance or closeness. In Interpersonal Boundaries: Variations and Violations Salman Akhtar and the other contributors demonstrate how boundaries, by delineating and containing the self, secure one's conscious and unconscious experience of entity and of self-governance.
Interpersonal Boundaries reveals the complexities of the self and its boundaries, while identifying some of the enigmatic questions about how the biological, psychological, and cultural aspects of the self interrelate. The contributors skillfully integrate a wide range of theory with a wealth of clinical material. Examples range from the dark side of boundary-violating therapists to an extraordinary presentation of harrowing analytic work with a severely traumatized man. Readers will find that this volume makes a significant contribution to the knowledge of boundaries of the self in psychotherapeutic theory and practice.
Interpersonal Boundaries reveals the complexities of the self and its boundaries, while identifying some of the enigmatic questions about how the biological, psychological, and cultural aspects of the self interrelate. The contributors skillfully integrate a wide range of theory with a wealth of clinical material. Examples range from the dark side of boundary-violating therapists to an extraordinary presentation of harrowing analytic work with a severely traumatized man. Readers will find that this volume makes a significant contribution to the knowledge of boundaries of the self in psychotherapeutic theory and practice.
This book is highly recommended not only for professionals but for those in clinical training, the latter of whom can be expected to gain insight into the complex and often unsuspected dynamics between therapist and patient and, in the process, learn how to best prevent their own transgression of the therapeutic relationship. Readers not well disposed to a psychoanalytic perspective should not be put off, for the contributors are well versed in contemporary neuroscience, draw on empirical studies, and acknowledge the role of culture in effecting interpersonal boundaries. Moreover, the dynamics of transference and countertransference are important to understand no matter what one's theoretical orientation may be. Indeed, this book suggests that it is possible to dampen the fires that threaten to consume both therapist and patient while yet stoking the flames that warm a chilled and fearful heart.