Dissociation, Compulsion, and Language Games in Psychoanalysis

Dissociation, Compulsion, and Language Games in Psychoanalysis investigates the strangely underexplored topic of the phenomenology of language in psychoanalytic dialogue-as impacted by trauma, addiction, and other compulsive aversions. Drawing on the long tradition of phenomenology and exploration of the importance of language in philosophy, as well as the author's extensive clinical experience, this book explores how language acts as the interface of human connection and how, without really understanding what it is and how it functions, true communication and connection cannot be achieved. The author looks at how we can use the concept of family resemblance in the way we use words to come to an understanding of each other, so that even if we don't use language in exactly the same way, we can find common ground that let's us understand and empathize with each other. With rich clinical vignettes and a fresh new application of philosophical ideas, this is key reading for all psychoanalysts and psychotherapists.

Darren Haber is a psychoanalyst practicing in West Los Angeles. He specializes in treating childhood trauma, addiction, and anxiety/depression. His book, Circles Without a Center: Addiction, Accommodation and Vulnerability in Psychoanalysis, was published in July 2022 by Routledge. He publishes a weekly Substack column called "Hearing the Worlds of Others" and is the winner of several analytic writing awards. He frequently teaches, and has published numerous papers in the journals Psychoanalysis, Self and Context, and Psychoanalytic Inquiry. His website is www.therapistinlosangeles.com. He is a senior member of the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and a member of the International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology.

1. Introduction: Wittgenstein's Steam: Absence and Negotiation in Clinical Dialogue 2. Dissociation and Language Games in Psychoanalysis: Struck Dumb 3. Dissociation and Bewitchment in Analytic Dialogue: Having a Word 4. Maria Balaska on Wittgenstein, Lacan, and the Limits of Language: Beyond the Limit 5. Either/Or Language Games in Analytic Therapy: Yes or No 6. Therapy Beyond the Riddle: The Myth of Insight 7. Certainty and its Discontents: Words Apart 8. Living Speech and Analytic Silence: Playing Dead