Becoming Alive: Psychoanalysis And Vitality

Becoming Alive Human beings are uniquely concerned with the question and marvel of what it means to feel alive and real, as well as the lifelong struggle of being alive together. Becoming Alive proffers a psychoanalytic theory of experiences of being alive, acknowledging that analyst and patient—indeed, each of us—are caught up in the larger drama and mystery of being alive. Focusing on the challenge in any psychoanalytic theory to demonstrate the relation between culture, community, and the individual, LaMothe’s theory provides a bridge between the three, arguing that organizations of experiences of being alive are inextricably yoked to cultural stories, rituals, and practices. Enlivened by clinical illustrations and examples drawn from wider culture, Becoming Alive brings together psychoanalytic developmental perspectives, infant-parent research, semiotics, and philosophy to provide a comprehensive and systematic description of subjective and intersubjective experiences of being alive. Ryan LaMothe is a Professor of Pastoral Counseling at St. Meinrad School of Theology, a Diplomate in the American Psychotherapy Association, a fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, and a member of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 36 and 39). He has published in the areas of religion and psychology, counseling, and psychoanalysis. Becoming Alive Psychoanalysis and vitality Ryan LaMothe LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2005 by Routledge 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. © 2005 Ryan LaMothe All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. This publication has been produced with paper manufactured to strict environmental standards and with pulp derived from sustainable forests. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data LaMothe, Ryan, 1955– Becoming alive: psychoanalysis and vitality/by Ryan LaMothe.—1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-58391-930-9 (hardcover: alk. paper)—ISBN 1-58391-931-7 (pbk.: alk. p