Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Breaking through Schizophrenia: Lacan and Hegel for Talk Therapy (New Imago): 13

Breaking through Schizophrenia builds on the ideas of Jacques Lacan who argued that schizophrenia is a deficient relationship to language, in particular the difficulty to master the metaphoric dimension of language, which children acquire by the Oedipal restructuring of the psyche. This book is thus a countercultural move to present a less damaging view and a more efficient treatment method for schizophrenic persons. Through a collection of published and unpublished articles, Ver Eecke traces the path of Lacanian thought. He discusses the importance of language for the development of human beings and examines the effectiveness of talk therapy through case studies with schizophrenic persons. Review Renowned Lacanian psychoanalyst Wilfried Ver Eecke brings together for the first time a collection of his seminal contributions to the talk psychotherapy of schizophrenic patients. Building on the successful treatment methods of psychologists Karon, Vergote, Villemoes, and Prouty, Ver Eecke provides a therapeutic blueprint that offers hope to patients and their families. This book will prove to be an invaluable guide for all mental health clinicians who wish to obtain the best possible outcomes for their patients who suffer and struggle with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.--Gerald P. Perman MD, president, The American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis Ver Eecke (Georgetown Univ.) presents an analysis of schizophrenia that places talk therapy at its center, exploring this intervention's possibilities for enhancing the lives of people who suffer from schizophrenia and those--professionals and family members--who care for them. For Ver Eecke, mental illness is framed in terms of the linguistic challenges that, failing to have been mastered while growing up, account for psychosis and schizophrenia. Through his use of Lacanian psychoanalysis, its points of resemblance to Hegelian philosophy, and the phenomenology of De Waelhens, Ver Eecke lays the groundwork for demonstrations of how schizophrenia may be approached therapeutically. The book concludes by describing three methods for treating schizophrenic patients and offers a reframing of them in terms of the Lacanian ideas discussed earlier in the book. In short, this is a magisterial account of the treatment of schizophrenia, a notoriously intractable condition, and it will have immense appeal to professionals in psychoanalysis, psychology, and social work. The included clinical examples provide fertile material for future conversations about approaches to treatment. Especially illuminating in this regard is Ver Eecke's reflections on the obligatory example of Judge Daniel Paul Schreber, the most famous case of psychosis in the analytic and psychological literature. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals.--CHOICE Lacan's insights into schizophrenia were continually reworked and developed throughout his many years of teaching. This book revisits the core of Lacan's formidable approach to treating schizophrenia by linking Lacan's thought to a wider field of psychoanalytic approaches and methodologies. Ver Eecke also brings his many years of Hegel scholarship and experience as a Lacanian psychoanalyst to bear on the challenge of treating schizophrenia. This book is a treasure for analysts, philosophers, and those in the wider field of mental health.--Daniel Tutt, PhD, professor of philosophy, Marymount University, and member, D.C. Lacanian Forum Ver Eecke has produced a highly sophisticated study of clinical approaches to psychosis and schizophrenia that is informed by Lacanian ideas and a range of related philosophical and post-Lacanian approaches. It is very readable and covers complex ideas well, carefully balancing the conceptualizations of a range of theorists along with the author's own novel ideas. Very accessible and understandable clinical examples bring the discussi