Imagining possibilities: A qualitative study of analysts' faith in the psychoanalytic process.
Item
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Title
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Imagining possibilities: A qualitative study of analysts' faith in the psychoanalytic process.
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Identifier
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AAI3283792
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identifier
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3283792
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Creator
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Goldberg, Erika.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Elliot Jurist
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Date
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2007
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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This qualitative study is an exploration of psychoanalysts' faith in the analytic process. The fundamental belief is based on the principle that reflection on and awareness in one's mental processes is a valuable and transformative experience. Faith in psychoanalysis is conceptualized as a dynamic process in which analysts' doubts and despair in clinical situations are met with experiences that restore their ability to imagine possibility and positive change. These doubts, which are triggered in various ways, lead the analyst to enlist a series of "non-analytic" actions and thoughts that can precipitate a breakdown of the analytic framework and/or inconsistent application of other analytic tools. The dissolution of certain analytic tools can culminate in a crisis of faith in the analytic process. Analysts' faith can be restored through means that shore up the individual's sense of self. Once this happens, analysts return to an analytic stance, thus re-establishing a tempered, positive belief in the process.;For this study ten psychoanalysts were administered semi-structured interviews and asked to discuss their experiences of faith in psychoanalysis; how they think about it, how they enact it, how they lose it and how they restore it. The data is presented in a manner that provides the reader with a nuanced view of faith. General patterns that developed amongst subjects are presented in tandem with subjects' individual experiences of faith. By looking at the data from these two perspectives, the reader has an opportunity to see the full, detailed and idiosyncratic nature of this topic.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
