Overview

The paranormal derives from us on a daily basis. Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Joyce, E.M. Forster, Ingmar Bergman, and Chesterton understood this and made the paranormal essential to their depiction of humanity. However mainstream studies of western literature, culture and psychology deny the importance of psychic phenomena in our lives. Freud himself recognized telepathy as a daily occurrence to be explored in clinical work and established principles for doing so but most of his followers have failed to walk in his footsteps. Nor do psychoanalysts acknowledge the parapsychological history of psychoanalysis including the findings of the Mesmerists, Jung and Ferenczi or more contemporary psychoanalysts such as Eisenbud . Anthropologists are unaware that shamans developed sleight-of-hand techniques to facilitate psi (that is psychic) phenomena nor do they appreciate the manner in which tribal cultures integrated psychics into their societies. And Western legal theory avoids psi as a causal agent, never addressing its artificial construction of reality. Literary academicians attribute the psychic discoveries of great masters to “poetic license” rather than to accurate, understanding of our parapsychological capacities. The author—a practicing senior training psychoanalyst, a parapsychologist, and a lawyer familiar with Navajo culture—enjoins us to recognize psi phenomena such as telepathy, precognition and apparitions in our lives and to integrate our understanding of them into psychoanalytic theory and clinical work, literary studies, and anthropology. He investigates psi as it expresses itself in dreams, unconscious dynamics, psychic photography, and precognition and provides instances from his clinical practice.

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9780786495368

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Reviews

As the topic of unconscious communication makes its way toward the center of contemporary psychoanalytic debate, Richard Reichbart has presciently provided an exhaustive account of the concept, both within psychoanalysis and beyond. Having been immersed in the worlds of both psychoanalysis and parapsychological research, the author constructs a tour de force that coordinates the traces of psi phenomena across these and other disciplines. Moreover, not only has Reichbart written the definitive text on psychic phenomena as a topic of psychoanalytic inquiry, he has written a deeply insightful account of the relationship between psychoanalysis and science. At the heart of Reichbart's argument are pressing questions about the limits of contemporary scientific thinking, and about psychoanalysis as an effort to operate at and to expand those limits. Popular audiences interested in the subject of psi phenomena will find a great deal by which to be fascinated herein, but it is the psychoanalytic clinician who will most benefit from such a rigorous encounter with aspects of analytic theory and practice that have been suppressed for too long. --Jared Russell, author of Nietzsche and the Clinic: Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, Metaphysics

As the topic of unconscious communication makes its way toward the center of contemporary psychoanalytic debate, Richard Reichbart has presciently provided an exhaustive account of the concept, both within psychoanalysis and beyond. Having been immersed in the worlds of both psychoanalysis and parapsychological research, the author constructs a tour de force that coordinates the traces of psi phenomena across these and other disciplines. Moreover, not only has Reichbart written the definitive text on psychic phenomena as a topic of psychoanalytic inquiry, he has written a deeply insightful account of the relationship between psychoanalysis and science. At the heart of Reichbart's argument are pressing questions about the limits of contemporary scientific thinking, and about psychoanalysis as an effort to operate at and to expand those limits. Popular audiences interested in the subject of psi phenomena will find a great deal by which to be fascinated herein, but it is the psychoanalytic clinician who will most benefit from such a rigorous encounter with aspects of analytic theory and practice that have been suppressed for too long. --Jared Russell, author of Nietzsche and the Clinic: Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, Metaphysics; Since Freud's famous dismissal of telepathy back in 1922, '...I have no opinion on the matter and know nothing about it, ' he sent a strong message to his followers. Despite his own conflict over the subject, he warned others not to pursue this realm any further, lest they discredit the field. Most psychoanalysts obeyed. Most, but not all. Richard Reichbart, almost a century later, tells us the story of these courageous dissidents who dare delve into 'the occult.' the 'paranormal, ' the 'psi phenomena, ' and the 'extraordinary knowing.' This meticulously researched work, destined to become a classic, is the definitive response to Freud. Fascinating and immensely readable, his sections on literature and culture provide the necessary foundation for building an interdisciplinary bridge, which moves us a giant step forward. In the true spirit of psychoanalysis, he shows us how a deeper appreciation of our own field's past efforts to understand these ubiquitous phenomena will facilitate a better integration of new findings. This book is a must for all students, clinicians, and academics who want to or need to better understand and demystify our 'sixth sense.' --Ira Brenner, M.D., author of Dissociation of Trauma and Dark Matters--Exploring the Realm of Psychic Devastation.

Author Information

Richard Reichbart is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Positions held include: Fellow, Training and Supervising Analyst and Past President of the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research in New York City; Past President of the New Jersey Society for Psychoanalysis; Fellow of the International Psychoanalytic Association; member of the American Psychoanalytic Association; and member of the Parapsychological Association.

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