The Emergent Ego offers a new scientific approach to the psychoanalytic process based on revolutionary new findings in complexity theory and modern evolutionary theory. Its primary thesis is that adaptive change in the patient results from the coevolution of the therapeutic dyad in the analytic ecosystem. The application of complexity theory to the psychoanalytic process extends the power of psychoanalytic theory to account for the full range of events that characterize the therapeutic relationship.
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Editorial Reviews
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A rule of thumb for most psychoanalysts is that "activity" by the analyst should be minimized except for the quintessential analytic function of "interpretation." I hope The Emergent Ego leads to some important expansions of this heuristic. The act of interpretation is not limited to explanation by the analyst of possible unconscious meanings behind what the patient tells him; this function of interpretation is not its most important. Interpretation, or, more broadly, intervention by the analyst, is the analyst's way of fulfilling his role as a coevolutionary partner in the analytic process. It is essential to the progress of the analysis. A major part of the analyst's job is to track the progress of the analysis and to organize and update the analytic discourse. These tasks are as much a part of the analytic enterprise as the identification of unconscious fantasy. They require a kind of activity on the part of the analyst that has not been traditionally conceptualized as interpretation.
Any activity by the analyst is a potential intrusion on the patient's own thoughts. This is a serious issue, since many patients have had difficulty in separating their own thoughts from those of their primary caretakers. Analysts are rightly wary of activity that is not interpretive. The problem has been that their definition of interpretation was so narrow that it excluded activity of the analyst needed to make the analytic process succeed. Freud and other traditional analysts reacted vehemently to Ferenczi's misappropriation of the term active as a description of the analyst's role. In doing so they closed off the investigation of their own activity as traditional analysts.
Complexity theory and modern evolutionary theory are useful because they demonstrate that the analyst cannot help being active if the analysis is to work. The real question is not whether he should be active, or how active he should be, it is how he should be active. Is he active in the constructive way necessary to facilitate the analytic process or is he active in a way that opposes and diminishes it? The theory helps to answer this question by mapping out the process and locating many of the points at which the analyst's constructive intervention is essential to the unfolding of the process.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Revolutionary Book about Psychoanalysis,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Emergent Ego: Complexity and Coevolution in the Psychoanalytic Process (Hardcover)
This book has transformed my understanding of the psychoanalytic process and how it works to benefit patients. Instead of a hodge-podge of isolated rules of thumb for psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy, "The Emergent Ego" presents a coherent picture of the process through which evolutionary change takes place in treatment, in both the therapist and the patient. Palombo conceives of the therapeutic relationship as an ecosystem in which the analyst's knowledge of the patient and the patient's self-knowledge coevolve. This occurs through a continual updating and restructuring of the analytic discourse, the memories shared between patient and analyst of the events of the analysis, including the cumulative structure formed by the connections formulated by both partners in the relationship. Progress is marked by a series of phase transitions in the organization of the patient's mind, both conscious and unconscious. Since the phase transitions often appear to be sudden and discontinuous, the course of treatment may contain periods when nothing seems to be happening, but which then resolve into a sudden coming together of insight and feeling.There is much more to this book than I can summarize in a paragraph or two. It introduces a new scientific paradigm that quahes any doubts about the scientific authenticity of psychoanalysis. I recommend it to anyone who is serious about understanding what psychoanalysis really is and how it can be done most effectively.
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Monumental Contribution,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Emergent Ego: Complexity and Coevolution in the Psychoanalytic Process (Hardcover)
This book results from the meeting of two extraordinary minds. Stanley Palombo is our leading psychoanalytic authority on dreaming and primary process mentation. His pioneering 1978 book, "Dreaming and Memory," replaced many of Freud's antiquated ideas about dreaming with a modern theory that takes account of both the basic information processing function of dreaming and the defensive alterations introduced into dreaming by the censorship mechanism Freud described. Stuart Kauffman is the brilliant exponent of complexity theory whose ideas have reshaped our understanding of the origins and evolution of life. Kauffman's universe is not a static residue of chance events but a material system that naturally promotes ever increasing diversity and complexity. In this book, Palombo turns to the questions raised by the therapeutic action of the psychoanalytic process. After reading Kauffman's "The Origins of Order," he travelled to the Santa Fe Insitute to discuss his own ideas on this critical topic with Kauffman. "The Emergent Ego" is the result of these discussions. Using the ideas of Kauffman and other complexity theorists to explain his own clinical observations, Palombo provides a coherent scientific understanding of the interaction between patient and analyst. In so doing, he demystifies the psychoanalytic process and exposes many of the technical errors induced by unjustified theoretical assumptions. "The Emergent Ego" offers a powerful cure for the doubts many people feel about the scientific validity of psychoanalysis and its value as a method of treatment for sufferers from emotional illness.
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but still a "just so" story?,
By majorka "majorka" (Norway) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Emergent Ego: Complexity and Coevolution in the Psychoanalytic Process (Hardcover)
I picked up this book because of previous familiarity with Stuart Kaufmanns other work. I have no academic background in psychology, but I have a general interest in this type of literature.The general information on complexity science included in the book was very interesting, and included a section on the evolution of biochemistry which I had never seen before. The sections were also very well written and suitable for readers with little background in natural science. So full points for these sections of the book. However, I had some trouble with the sections looking at psychoanalysis and comparing it to complex system theory. To my knowledge, traditional Freudian ideas about personality development have been much criticised in their own right. Is the authors use of these explanations for deeper psychological motivations in his patients earnest, or just an attempt at avoiding taking on too much controversy at the same time? Personally, I find the analogy between complex system development and the process of going through personal development compelling. However, this book does not constitute proof that these processes are related in the way that the author states. It is probably difficult at this point in time to attain such proof, and I agree with people like Daniel Dennett that explanations based on analogies may not always be a bad thing. However, it's still possible for skeptics to dismiss these theories as "just so" stories. (Rudyard Kipling wrote a book of fables called "Just So Stories" and it has become a name for make-believe evolutionary explanations without sure proof). Freuds ideas on what shapes us may not be scientifically sound, although the general process of therapy may be a process where slow progress is interspersed with more significant phase transitions. This may have nothing to do with Freudian theory, but could for example be a function of how our brain works, and work independently of the system of therapy employed. Modern theories on consciousness state that the brain is a self-organizing complex system. Thus, different therapeutic methods may trigger the same kind of underlying development process. The methods may not be equally good at achieving progress, and the choice of the best method may also depend on the nature of the patient's problem. I would however encourage further scientific exploration of this theme, and this book is an important first step in that direction. I therefore recommend this to anyone interested in personal development, psychotherapy or psychoanalysis.
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