Description
Book SynopsisAppearing nearly forty years after the last significant text on the topic, this book brings the psychoanalytic theory on play truly up to date and elucidates its significance for clinical work with the help of illustrative clinical vignettes.
Trade ReviewFreud defined good mental health as 'the ability to love, to work, and to play.' We have devoted much time to studying our ability to love and to work. Our 'ability to play' has gotten short-changed and needs our attention. This clinically relevant and highly enlightening book takes us from child's play to adult play, from the development-stimulating power of play to its use in problem-solving adaptation, even to its outwitting and out-battling trauma, and to its application to loosening the rigidities of adversarial diplomacy. This richly informing, superb book takes us on a journey from childhood to-as long as we live. We must know this for clinical work! -- Henri Parens, MD, Thomas Jefferson University and Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia
Monisha Akhtar's book brings together an impressive array of experts to demonstrate that taking play seriously deepens our clinical knowledge, enriches technique, and reclaims the psychoanalytic understanding that play is central to all human endeavors. -- Kerry Kelly Novick and Jack Novick, PhD, Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute
Table of ContentsPart 1 Part I—Development Chapter 2 Chapter 1—Self-Other Action Play: A Window into the Representational World of the Infant Chapter 3 Chapter 2—Fathers and Play Chapter 4 Chapter 3—Adolescence as a Time to Play Part 5 Part II—Psychopathology Chapter 6 Chapter 4—Neurotic Inhibitions of Play Chapter 7 Chapter 5—Normal and Pathological Playfulness Chapter 8 Chapter 6—Remembering, Replaying, and Working Through: The Transformation of Trauma in Children's Play Part 9 Part III—Sociocultural Aspects Chapter 10 Chapter 7—Cultural Pathways to Understanding Children's Play: Mythology and Folklore Chapter 11 Chapter 8—Playing for Survival during the Holocaust Chapter 12 Chapter 9—Play and Creativity Chapter 13 Chapter 10—Play and Track II Diplomacy Part 14 Part IV—Technical Implications Chapter 15 Chapter 11—Aggression in Children: Origins, Manifestations, and Management through Play Chapter 16 Chapter 12—Play and Very Young Children in Object Relations Family Therapy Chapter 17 Chapter 13—Playfulness in the Adult Analytic Relationship Chapter 18 References
