Wilfred Bion once said, I use the Kabbalah as a framework for psychoanalysis. Both are preoccupied with catastrophe and faith, infinity and intensity of experience, shatter and growth of being that su
Image and sensing have been underrated in Western thought but have come into their own since the Romantic movement and have always been valued by poets and mystics. Images come in all shapes and sizes
This book picks up where Kabbalah and Psychoanalysis (2012) left off. It is based on two expanded transcriptions of seminars given for the New York University Postdoctoral Program Contemplative Studie
Totem conveys spirit, a sense of the sacred. Freud attempted to get under the totem and explore psychic forces and pressures below the surface. Jung opened further depths in exploration of the sacred.
This book explores psychoanalytic faith and, more generally, the role of faith in the therapeutic process. In his earlier work, Eigen distinguished faith from beliefs used to organize it, the latter a
The birth of experience goes on all life long. Giving birth to oneself involves many processes. The first chapter of this book expands on Eigen’s final talk on "Psychoanalysis and Kabbalah&am
We are organized around the double coordinates of mind-body and self-other, says author Michael Eigen. The story of therapy is, in part, the story of how the unconscious sense of self-other and mind-b
Many people seek help because they feel dragged down by a sense of inner deadness that persists in an otherwise full and meaningful life. These individuals somehow remain untouched by their own inner
A collection of exceptional papers by Michael Eigen, selected and assembled by Adam Phillips, that represent 20 years of writing and 30 years of work. The papers examine the tension, caused by the con
We are all sensitive beings, both physically and emotionally. What do we do with our sensitivity? How much of our sensitivity can we take? How do we become partners with our sensitivity in ways that
In this provocative and insightful new book, psychologist Michael Eigen presents a phenomenology of ecstatic states. Ecstasy is a force to be reckoned with -- sometimes creative, sometimes destructive
A profound look at the origins of patient's maladies and the way they lead their lives. The author describes the analyses leading to de-programing these patients from their toxins and intoxicators. Th
Most psychoanalysts tend to be anti-mystical or , at least, non-mystical. Psychoanalysis is allied with science and, if anything, is capable of deconstructing mystical experience. Yet some psychoanaly
Freud wrote that the greatest problem facing humanity is its destructive urge. There is no one factor that solves the issue. The Challenge of Being Human explores tendencies that make us up and capaci
Lust is arguably the most basic of human desires. It determines much of our behavior and our culture, but is it understood? Building on his groundbreaking work in Ecstasy and Rage, Michael Eigen confr
