ABSTRACT

Commentaries on the Work of Michael Eigen is an accessible and engaging introduction to this ground-breaking psychoanalytic sage. Through exploration of Eigen’s two key texts, The Psychotic Core and Emotional Storm, the author addresses universal human concerns of madness and the difficulties of our emotional life.

In conversational style, the book mirrors Eigen's chapter-by-chapter approach, focusing on and amplifying important aspects of each work. Bagai follows threads of several key themes from psychoanalysis, philosophy, literature, religious thought, and the humanities, and chapters include discussion of relevant theory from Freud, Jung, Klein, Winnicott, Bion, Buber, and Levinas, among others. Rather than a comprehensive or systematic exegesis of Eigen's work, Bagai’s commentary expands nodal aspects, illuminating and probing seminal themes and ideas. Through clinical case examples, the author explores intertwining of mind and body, self and the other using an array of carefully selected quotes from Eigen's kaleidoscopic vision.

Commentaries on the Work of Michael Eigen will be essential reading for psychotherapists and psychoanalysts, as well as anyone seeking a greater understanding of Eigen’s work.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

part One|92 pages

Commentaries on The Psychotic Core

chapter Commentary #1|8 pages

The Core of Psychosis

chapter Commentary #2|7 pages

Hallucination, Idealization, and Wish-Fulfillment

chapter Commentary #3|7 pages

Hallucination, Megalomania, and Emotional Pain

chapter Commentary #4|7 pages

Phenomenology, Evasion, and the Primacy of Experience

chapter Commentary #5|7 pages

Mindlessness

chapter Commentary #6|8 pages

Boundaries

chapter Commentary #7|7 pages

Hate, Fear, and Aggression

chapter Commentary #8|7 pages

Hate, Self-Hatred, and the Death Drive

chapter Commentary #9|7 pages

Epistemology and Reversal

chapter Commentary #10|7 pages

Schreber and Rena

chapter Commentary #11|8 pages

The Psychotic Self

chapter Commentary #12|8 pages

Unintegration, Madness, Suicide, and Epilogue

part Two|101 pages

Commentaries on Emotional Storm

chapter Commentary #1|8 pages

Inside the Storm

chapter Commentary #2|7 pages

Emotional Storms

chapter Commentary #3|7 pages

More Emotional Storms

chapter Commentary #4|7 pages

Smiles and Screams

chapter Commentary #5|8 pages

No Amount of Suffering

chapter Commentary #6|8 pages

Somatic Storms

chapter Commentary #7|7 pages

Dream Images

chapter Commentary #8|8 pages

Killers within Life and Psyche

chapter Commentary #9|6 pages

Killers in Dreams

chapter Commentary #10|7 pages

Training Wheels

chapter Commentary #11|8 pages

The Binding

chapter Commentary #12|8 pages

Guilt, Suffering, and Transformation

chapter Commentary #13|8 pages

Guilt, Care, and Afterword