Introduction

Over the past 10 years I have, through several papers and now five books, been developing a radically interdisciplinary approach to clinical psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. The introduction outlines this ongoing project and how it is taken up in the present volume. It is about the Bio-Psycho-Social Self, its origins both evolutionarily and developmentally and the ways in which Phenomenology and Existentialism contribute to an understanding of it. The introduction continues by offering a brief synopsis of each chapter to give the reader a broad sense of where the book is going. This is not a clinical book. I have, however, presented illustrations of work with patients where I can, in order to open a path to clinical relevance. Where I haven’t been able to do so by discussing cases, I have pointed out connections when they arise.