Overview

Individuals with addictive disorders feel either too much or too little; they are over-controlled or out-of-control. To fathom and treat the causes and consequences of their suffering, the author of this work focuses on a psychodynamic perspective. He sees psychological symptoms as adaptations, attempts to solve problems; the clinician's role is to assess where the psychological structure needs understanding and repair. Deficits in affect, self-esteem, relationships and self-care surface repeatedly in the addictive equation and lead to Khantzian's view of the use of addictive substances as coping agents. This perspective evolves into a concern with the sufferer's disordered personality and its insidious interaction with his addictive vulnerability.

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9780765701862

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Reviews

Addiction is the most devastating mental disorder of the twentieth century and the one most neglected by psychodynamically oriented mental health professionals. Against this background, Edward Khantzian's book the work of a lifetime is an extraordinary achievement. Here is a master psychodynamic clinician exploring the internal world of the addicted person and demonstrating convincingly his self-medication hypothesis. There is no magic cure for addiction, but Khantzian's marvelously written book will give even the most experienced clinician useful new ideas about how to understand and help patients.--Alan A. Stone

Over the course of three decades, Dr. Khantzian has generated a deep understanding of why addicts self-medicate, why their self-care becomes compromised, and how they can be supported in their attempts to achieve recovery. The substance abuse field is now most fortunate to be given this compendium of Khantzian's work in such a well-organized and coherent form. This volume will be a most valuable resource for experienced practitioners and students alike. -- Marc Galanter This is a landmark collection that more than fulfills the promise of its title. The reader gets an evolutionary review of Khantzian's thinking, and the huge bonus of his reflections about his own developmental process. This book is a treasure: clinically rich, theoretically creative, and comprehensive. It is particularly valuable as a model of therapist openness and self-disclosure. We see the author's adherence to psychoanalytic thought and his questions about the limits of this model. With his enlightened theories and his attitude of openness, Khantzian provides an expansive and integrated perspective of addictions treatment with great contemporary relevance. -- Stephanie Brown, Ph.D., director, The Addictions Institute, Menlo Park, CA; co-director, The Family Recovery Project, Mental Research Institute (MRI), P As a novelist who is also working in the field of addiction medicine, I am in the unique position to comment on the clarity of Dr. Khantzian's writing, as well as its usefulness to practitioners. This book brings together the theoretical and the practical in one highly intelligent volume that can be read with pleasure and awe from beginning to end. It is the cornerstone on which the next generation of knowledge in addiction medicine will be built. -- Michael S. Palmer, M.D., associate director, Massachusetts Medical Society Physician Health Services; clinical instructor in medicine, Tufts University S Addiction is the most devastating mental disorder of the twentieth century and the one most neglected by psychodynamically oriented mental health professionals. Against this background, Edward Khantzian's book the work of a lifetime is an extraordinary achievement. Here is a master psychodynamic clinician exploring the internal world of the addicted person and demonstrating convincingly his self-medication hypothesis. There is no magic cure for addiction, but Khantzian's marvelously written book will give even the most experienced clinician useful new ideas about how to understand and help patients. -- Alan A. Stone

Over the course of three decades, Dr. Khantzian has generated a deep understanding of why addicts self-medicate, why their self-care becomes compromised, and how they can be supported in their attempts to achieve recovery. The substance abuse field is now most fortunate to be given this compendium of Khantzian's work in such a well-organized and coherent form. This volume will be a most valuable resource for experienced practitioners and students alike. -- Marc Galanter This is a landmark collection that more than fulfills the promise of its title. The reader gets an evolutionary review of Khantzian's thinking, and the huge bonus of his reflections about his own developmental process. This book is a treasure: clinically rich, theoretically creative, and comprehensive. It is particularly valuable as a model of therapist openness and self-disclosure. We see the author's adherence to psychoanalytic thought and his questions about the limits of this model. With his enlightened theories and his attitude of openness, Khantzian provides an expansive and integrated perspective of addictions treatment with great contemporary relevance. -- Brown, Stephanie Ph.D. As a novelist who is also working in the field of addiction medicine, I am in the unique position to comment on the clarity of Dr. Khantzian's writing, as well as its usefulness to practitioners. This book brings together the theoretical and the practical in one highly intelligent volume that can be read with pleasure and awe from beginning to end. It is the cornerstone on which the next generation of knowledge in addiction medicine will be built. -- Michael S. Palmer, M.D. Addiction is the most devastating mental disorder of the twentieth century and the one most neglected by psychodynamically oriented mental health professionals. Against this background, Edward Khantzian's book the work of a lifetime is an extraordinary achievement. Here is a master psychodynamic clinician exploring the internal world of the addicted person and demonstrating convincingly his self-medication hypothesis. There is no magic cure for addiction, but Khantzian's marvelously written book will give even the most experienced clinician useful new ideas about how to understand and help patients. -- Alan A. Stone

Author Information

Edward J. Khantzian is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and a founding member of the Department of Psychiatry at The Cambridge Hospital. He has spent more than twenty years studying psychological factors associated with drug and alcohol abuse. Dr. Khantzian is a practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, participant in numerous clinical research studies on substance abuse, and lecturer and writer on psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and substance abuse problems. A former Chairman of Massachusetts' Governor's Drug Rehabilitation Advisory Board and consultant to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, he is currently Associate Chief of Psychiatry, Tewksbury Hospital, Tewksbury, MA. He is a past director of The Cambridge Hospital Drug Treatment Programs and now holds the position of Principal Psychiatrist for Substance Abuse Disorders in The Cambridge Hospital Department of Psychiatry. He is a founding member of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) and is a Past-President of this national organization. Dr. Khantzian was a supervising physician for the National Football League Drug Control Program from its inception in 1986 until 1991, and currently serves as senior consultant to the NFL Players Association program for substance abuse.

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