Routledge Early Development and its Disturbances: Clinical, Conceptual and Empirical Research on ADHD and other Psychopathologies and its Epistemological Reflections (The Developments in Psychoanalysis Series)

In this volume internationally well known experts discuss whether psychoanalysis - with its rich mix of clinical experiences and conceptualizations of early development and symptoms - has something unique to offer through deepening the understanding of children suffering from this and similar developmental disturbances. The contributors consider therapeutic strategies as well as possibilities of early prevention. Surprisingly, psychoanalysts have only during the past few years actively engaged in the on-going and very important controversial discussions on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There may be many reasons for the increasing interest in this topic over the past few years - for example the dialogue between psychoanalysis and contemporary neurobiology/brain research which opens a fascinating window on an old problem in European culture: the mind-body problem. This exchange also promises to enlarge the understanding of psychic problems probably connected with some neurobiologically-based pathologies, widely assumed to include ADHD. Review "We have waited a long time for such a book! Looking from different points of view at early development, this volume is very interesting for the clinician and for the researcher. It especially highlights the developmental basis and psychopathology of the syndrome called ADHD (consisting of the three symptoms: attention deficit, hyperactivity and impulsivity), and shows what psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy can contribute to a favorable development of these children."--Prof. Dr. Dieter Bürgin, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatriy, University of Basel; Training analyst "This volume is long overdue. It provides indisputable research evidence to support what psychoanalysts have know for decades--that a monocausal etiological model to explain so complex a self-regulatory disorder as ADHD is inadequate. Now we have the evidence to justify a psychoanalytic treatment of these patients, even those who do benefit from stimulant medication. Kudos to the editors and their colleagues for providing research evidence to illustrate the continued applicability of psychoanalytic understanding and treatment to syndromes that often have a constitutional basis."--Alan Sugarman, PhD, Child, Adolescent, and Adult Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst, San Diego Psychoanalytic Society and Institute; Clinical Professor of Psychiatry About the Author Jorge Canestri