Christopher Bollas

In this accessible overview of the work of Christopher Bollas, Steven Jaron provides a fresh understanding of Bollas' work while examining pivotal concepts in Bollas' metapsychology. Placing Bollas' writings besides those of other analysts including Green, Bion, and Winnicott, chapters examine Bollas' understanding of unconscious communication, his contributions to a reworking of Oedipal configurations and his innovative extensions of how the object is mentalised and found as the individual matures in his or her environment. Through clinical extensions of the unthought known and first-hand narratives of working with patients, Jaron offers a new perspective on Bollas' work and argues for the importance of analyzing self-experience. This book is importantreading for beginning and seasoned analysts alike, offering suggestions for using Bollas' work in the consulting room, as well as in political and social conflicts in civic life--