Psychoanalysis of Aging and Maturity

"In Psychoanalysis of Aging and Maturity: The Concept of Maturescence,Guillermo Julio Montero offers psychoanalysis—its theory, its practitioners and its patients—a thorough and inspiring approach to the creative middle age period in the human life cycle. Through theoretical, literary and clinical considerations, he shows how the drive increase characteristic of men and women climacterics—equivalent to the one of puberty—infuses the experience of aging. The concept of maturescence repairs a constricted focus on 'midlife crisis' and opens our thinking to the potential for growth that the somatic and psychological transitions of middle age present." Harriet L. Wolfe, MD, President-Elect, International Psychoanalytical Association

"In this very interesting book, Guillermo Julio Montero introduces the concept of maturescence, which has its roots in the Freudian idea of a universal both for women and men when they reach their 50s. From a metapsychological perspective, this universal coincides with the demand of psychic work and working through stemming from drive increase that occurs during this period of life. The way in which this psychic work is set in motion and its outcome depends on many factors, always unpredictable and singular. The author also distinguishes midlife crisis from midlife transition, both of which trigger the aging process. This book is an important contribution to the field of psychoanalysis as it shreds light into the internal processes characteristic of a period of life that has been previously studied differently." Virginia Ungar, MD, President, International Psychoanalytical Association