Practical Psychoanalysis for Therapists and Patients [Paperback]

Owen Renik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 2006

A clear and readable manual for results-oriented psychoanalysis.

In this essential new book, Owen Renik describes how clinical psychoanalysis can focus on symptom relief and deliver results efficiently. With a humane, direct, and engaging voice, he takes up how to begin treatment, how to end it, and how to deal with the in-between. He offers chapters on the therapy of panic attacks and depersonalization, on how to get out of an impasse, on the relation between sexual desire and power in the analytic relationship, on patients who seem to want to sabotage their treatments, on flying blind as an analyst, and on a number of other intriguing, important practical topics.

Renik's down-to-earth presentation and discussion of clinical anecdotes, combined with useful recommendations for both analyst and patient, amounts to a clear and readable how-to manual. The book is intended for all mental health caregivers, patients and potential patients, and for anyone who is curious about what makes for effective, helpful psychotherapy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Foreword Magazine

This couchbuster could be the tipping point for a second Freudian revolution....

The author, a psychiatrist and respected teaching analyst in San Francisco and editor of The Psychoanalytic Quarterly for a decade, has the credentials to make his practical, humane approach credible to his colleagues. He distills his professional and personal experience with a comfortable balance of assurance and humility. Patients will love it, progressive analysts will embrace him, conservatives will distance themselves.

This book should shake up the Freudian establishment, as it empowers patients and their advocates. Historians of psychoanalysis will hear echoes of Otto Rank, Harry Stack Sullivan, Clara Thompson, Carl Rogers, Rollo May, and Irvin Yalom. Here they come home to roost, if not to crow. It takes an Owen Renik to do this, as it took Richard Nixon to open the door to China where others could only wait, or knock in frustration. The ghost of Sigmund Freud will probably nod his approval.


PsycCritiques

Owen Renik's slim volume, Practical Psychoanalysis for Therapists and Patients, is written in jargon-free, straightforward language that ensures its accessibility to both patients and therapists. In the jacket notes, Allen Wheelis describes Renik as “a new broom in the littered corridors of psychoanalysis.”

...Sometimes a broom is just a broom. In this case, however, Renik's broom sweeps away some of the accumulated cobwebs that have obscured the brilliance of Freud's invention, psychoanalysis. Writing, as he does, from the pinnacle of a career devoted to psychoanalytic practice and scholarship, Owen Renik's call for mutual engagement, humility, and a bit of practicality is welcome.

About the Author

Owen Renik, M.D., is currently a Training and Supervising Analyst at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society. He was Editor in Chief of The Psychoanalytic Quarterly for ten years, Program Chair of The American Psychoanalytic Association for two terms, and served as Director of Training and Associate Chief of the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Zion Hospital, San Francisco. He maintains a private practice in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Other Press; 1 edition (September 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590512375
• ISBN-13: 978-1590512371
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humanized Psychoanalysis, February 7, 2008

By 

Ejames LIEBERMAN (Potomac, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Practical Psychoanalysis for Therapists and Patients (Paperback)

Dr. Renik, psychiatrist, analyst, and long-time editor of the Psychoanalytic Quarterly, proves himself a conversational, practical (as the title says), genuine therapist, confident enough to admit uncertainty Case illustrations show his respect for patients, accurate empathy, and a willingness to improvise. Not wedded to theory, he bases success on results. All this suggests a major departure from the old Freudian style of "blank slate" analyst trying to bulldoze resistance instead of utilizing it as taught by Otto Rank Acts of Will: The Life and Work of Otto Rank (Same initials, too!) A pleasure to read, the book serves as a guide or second opinion for anyone getting or considering psychotherapy--and for psychotherapists as well.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars view altering, October 14, 2008

By 

B. Gholami (MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Practical Psychoanalysis for Therapists and Patients (Paperback)

Amazing read. Changed my view of psychodynamic therapy for much better. Enhances a deeper understanding of concepts while practically helping you conduct you psychodynamic therapy. I feel that my general interviewing style is now affected by this book and I am very happy about it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical, case study approach, January 15, 2010

By 

discover "Yuli" (NYC, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Practical Psychoanalysis for Therapists and Patients (Paperback)

I really enjoyed the book. It's hands down approach based on case studies. I liked the fact that i can read about someone's else issues as an example, as i found that i can relate to it much easier than to any theory without real life examples. However, i wish the author gave more insights on solutions. Solution is the key, if you read the books of these kind you are probably looking for a solution. This book gives you example how other people came to a solution and you might relate to it and figure it out, but there is no straight answer.. on the other hand, the answer is within you anyway, so it might not be something you find in any book out there.

Overall, i recommend the book highly for someone who want to explore oneself. It helped me to realize what my issue is and how i dealt with it. I am not sure i found the cure with this book, but i found the root. It's an easy read, very simple language and very good examples. If you want to find more theory on the topics, you probably want to get either other book or additional books.