A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Theory and Technique [Paperback]

Bruce Fink (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0674135369 | ISBN-13: 978-0674135369

"The goal of my teaching has always been, and remains, to train analysts."
--Jacques Lacan, Seminar XI, 209

Arguably the most profound psychoanalytic thinker since Freud, and deeply influential in many fields, Jacques Lacan often seems opaque to those he most wanted to reach. These are the readers Bruce Fink addresses in this clear and practical account of Lacan's highly original approach to therapy. Written by a clinician for clinicians, Fink's Introduction is an invaluable guide to Lacanian psychoanalysis, how it's done, and how it differs from other forms of therapy. While elucidating many of Lacan's theoretical notions, the book does so from the perspective of the practitioner faced with the pressing questions of diagnosis, what therapeutic stance to adopt, how to involve the patient, and how to bring about change.

Fink provides a comprehensive overview of Lacanian analysis, explaining the analyst's aims and interventions at each point in the treatment. He uses four case studies to elucidate Lacan's unique structural approach to diagnosis. These cases, taking up both theoretical and clinical issues in Lacan's views of psychosis, perversion, and neurosis, highlight the very different approaches to treatment that different situations demand.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Professor Fink's Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis addresses the clinically minded of all stripes, from the formally trained psychoanalyst to the layman who may be in, or in any way interested in, psychotherapy. His book will be particularly useful to analysts-in-training and doctoral-level students in psychology and the cognate disciplines. No previous exposure to Lacan's thinking is required.
--William Richardson, Boston College

Written with a clarity and accessibility unusual in Lacanian studies, Professor Fink's book leads the reader step by step through Lacanian analysis, moving progressively toward the more problematic aspects of the theory. For students and practitioners of psychoanalysis, I'd recommend this book as the best I've seen.
--Stanley A. Leavy, M.D., Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis

Bruce Fink has established his place as one of the central authorities on Lacan in this country, without peer in his familiarity with all phases of Lacan's work and in the clarity of his exegeses. Fink presents something that has not yet been seen in America, and rarely approached with such perspicacity anywhere: an introduction to Lacanian psychoanalysis not only as theory, but as clinical methodology and practice.
--Kenneth Reinhard, University of California, Los Angeles

Bruce Fink has established his place as one of the central authorities on Lacan in this country, without peer in his familiarity with all phases of Lacan's work and in the clarity of his exegeses...Professor Fink presents something that has not yet been seen in America, and rarely approached with such perspicacity anywhere: an introduction to Lacanian psychoanalysis not only as theory, but as clinical methodology and practice.
--Kenneth Reinhard, University of California, Los Angeles

Review

Professor Fink's Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis addresses the clinically minded of all stripes, from the formally trained psychoanalyst to the layman who may be in, or in any way interested in, psychotherapy. His book will be particularly useful to analysts-in-training and doctoral-level students in psychology and the cognate disciplines. No previous exposure to Lacan's thinking is required. (William Richardson, Boston College ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (September 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674135369
• ISBN-13: 978-0674135369
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bruce Fink is a practicing Lacanian psychoanalyst, analytic supervisor, and Professor of Psychology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He trained as a psychoanalyst in France for seven years with and is now a member of the psychoanalytic institute Lacan created shortly before his death, the École de la Cause Freudienne in Paris, and is also an affiliated member of the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

He is the author of four books on Lacan, a translator of Lacan's work into English (including Seminar XX: Encore, and Écrits: The First Complete Edition in English), and has written a novel whose main character is loosely based on Lacan: The Psychoanalytic Adventures of Inspector Canal (London: Karnac, 2010).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Useful, July 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Theory and Technique (Paperback)

My familiarity with the language of psychoanalysis has come primarily through its usage by post-structural and feminist theorists. Reading this text has been like discovering a rosetta stone. The clinical examples that Fink uses has put flesh, so to speak, on some difficult and disembodied ideas with which I have previously struggled. Politically I find myself at great odds with Fink's forays into social commentary, but even this has been incredibly instructive.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A few words may say a lot., March 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Theory and Technique (Hardcover)

It is the first time ,in my opinion,that an ambitious attempt to approach a "difficult"discourse achieves its aim :to develop in a brief and explicit way without any extravagant simplifications a theoritical laying concerning the function of human psychic apparatus.The detailed footnotes and the lucid bibliography form one more advantage of the book. In short,although this could be characterised as an unusual attempt for the American psychoanalytic scheming ,the overall outcome is enviable. Alkis Melidoniotis,MD Department of Psychiatry Naval Hospital of Crete Greece

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening presentation, November 15, 2001

By 

Darth Vader (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Theory and Technique (Paperback)

"A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis" is a much more accessible book that its factual title implies. Author Bruce Fink does an admirable job of presenting the thought of Jacques Lacan, a French "poststructuralist" who built his theory on the work of Freud. After reading Fink on Lacan, I wondered if Lacan himself was ever as accessible. What makes this book so comprehensible is that Fink bases his discussion on Lacan's own admirably simple schemata of the varieties of mental disorders. At the same time, Fink understands and explains those cultural tendencies in the thought of Lacan that might put off an English-speaking reader. And Fink's writing style is nothing short of clear. His discussion of Freud's "Rat man" case is an excellent introduction to Freud's clinical style. In short, "Clinical Introduction" is a highly attractive book whose success both enhanced, in my eyes, the reputation of Lacan, a tough French thinker, and, through the example of Fink, showed Anglo-American appreciation of Continental thought at its sensitive best.