Birth to Psychic Life

Based on rich clinical experience and on theory from numerous psychoanalytical works, this book explores and analyses the emergence and development of the psychic life.

Albert Ciccone is a psychologist, psychoanalyst amd professor of psychopathology and clinical psychology at the Université Lumière-Lyon 2. France. He is also founder and president of the Association lyonnaise pour une psychanalyse à partir de la clinique de l'enfant (ALPACE). Marc Lhopital is a psychoanalyst, member of the Paris Psychoanalytical Society (IPA), France; clinical psychologist and member of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis (SEPEA).

Introduction Part 1: 1. Introjection and its Relations to the Construction of the Psychical Apparatus 2. The First Containing External Object: the Momentary Object Part 2: 3. The Optimal Containing Object 4. Psychic Space Part 3: 5. On Adhesive Identification: Genesis of the Psychic Skin 6. On Symbiosis: a Common Skin 7. On the Skin-ego: a Complete Psychic Envelope 8. Conclusion: Psychic Birth and Psychopathological Deviations Part 4: 9. Splitting and Idealization: the Life Drives/Death Drives Duality 10. The Genesis and Development of Thought-Activity Part 5: 11. Projective Identification: Definition and Description 12. Projective Identification: Motives, Consequences, Phenomenology Part 6: 13. The Inadequacies of the Containing object 14. Phantasied Attacks on the Object 15. "Second Skin" Formation