Affect Regulation, Mentalization and the Development of the Self (2002)
Authors: Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E.L., & Target, M.
Publisher: New York: Other Press.
'Using a wide array of case studies in addition to an exhaustive review of psychoanalytic and developmental psychological research, this book puts forth a detailed theory for the way in which the abilities to mentalize (make and use mental representations of your own and other people's emotional states) and affect regulate (control your own emotions as is appropriate to environment) can determine a person's successful development.It discusses the ways in which bad or insufficient parenting can leave children unable to modulate and interpret their own feelings, as well as the feelings of those around them. Implications are discussed for severe personality disorders as well as general psychological problems of self-confidence, etc. Discusses the role of psychoanalytic therapy in addressing this problem in patients, effectively teaching them in later life to develop these cognitive/emotional capabilities. A remarkable synthesis of developmental theory and research on the evolution of the child's capacity for mentalization (reflective functioning), affect regulation, and the sense of self, and the contributions of the development of these functions to the understanding and treatment of psychological disturbances in children and adults. An intellectual and clinical tour de force, integrating diverse theory and data from neurobiology, behavioral genetics, the philosophy of mind, and psychosocial development, always with the focus on understanding the nature of severe psychological disturbances and their treatment in the psychotherapeutic context. This volume will have a profound impact on both clinical practice and clinical research.'
Sidney J. Blatt, Ph.D. Professor, Psychiatry and Psychology, Yale University
'This is what developmental psychopathology and psychoanalytic developmental writing should look like: a seamless integration of clinical and emprical observation, woven together by the profoundly powerful, searching intellectual presence of the authors. As signfiicantly for the practicing clinician, this is one of the first truly convincing efforts to show how the exciting body of attachment research can actually influence the way we practice with many of our patients, particularly those for whom disruptions in primary attachment relations provided fertile ground for the developmental in dsitrubances in the understanding and regulation of the self and the social world.'
Drew Westen, Ph.D. Research Associate Professor, Department of Psychology Director, Adolescent and Adult Personality Programs, Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University
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