ABSTRACT

In The Mystery of Things, Christopher Bollas takes the reader right to the heart of psychotherapy, examining the mysterious aspects of the self that are revealed by analysis.
The method of enquiry at the heart of psychoanalysis, that is, free association, runs contrary to everything that we are taught is the logical, rational, scientific way to acquire data. Yet it is only through using such an apparently illogical and subversive method that the pathological structures in thinking can be penetrated and the self underneath revealed and worked with by the analyst.
Christopher Bollas focuses on the nature and effects of the free associative process. Using clinical studies, he highlights how aspects such as mental illness, and creative or artistic acts can reveal much about the self.

chapter |4 pages

INTRODUCTION

chapter 1|10 pages

ORIGINS OF THE THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE

chapter 2|12 pages

THE PLACE OF THE PSYCHOANALYST

chapter 4|12 pages

FIGURES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

chapter 5|12 pages

ONE, TWO…SEVEN

chapter 6|16 pages

THE GOALS OF PSYCHOANALYSIS?

chapter 7|13 pages

MIND AGAINST SELF

chapter 8|18 pages

MENTAL INTERFERENCE

chapter 9|21 pages

DEAD MOTHER, DEAD CHILD

chapter 10|9 pages

BORDERLINE DESIRE

chapter 11|4 pages

PASSING ON PARANOIA

chapter 12|9 pages

OCCASIONAL MADNESS OF THE PSYCHOANALYST

chapter 13|9 pages

EMBODIMENT

chapter 14|9 pages

WORDING AND TELLING SEXUALITY

chapter 15|14 pages

CREATIVITY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS

chapter 16|15 pages

THE MYSTERY OF THINGS