Lessons in Psychoanalysis

'Franco de Masi has used actual classes he taught at the Italian Psychoanalytical Society to inspire the 19 'lessons' that make up this comprehensive guide to psychoanalytic theory and practice. The order and pacing of the chapters make sense as an introductory course. [...] De Masi has a talent for making theory accessible without diluting it. I found myself understanding ideas that I struggled with during my psychotherapy training. [...] Refreshingly for a psychoanalytic teaching text, other modalities such as evolutionary biology and neuroscience are interweaved and talked about respectfully without the territorial defensiveness that can often divide our profession.'

-- Emmanuelle Smith, psychodynamic psychotherapist, BACP Therapy Today, May 2023

‘Lessons in Psychoanalysis, written by one of the leading contemporary voices in our field, draws upon its author’s long and fruitful experience as a clinician, educator, and theoretician. Starting from the assumption that there is no single explanatory theory that helps us understand the many-sidedness of clinical experience, it introduces readers to a number of key authors and theories, offering hypotheses that can be helpful when applied to specific psychopathological domains. At its heart is the assertion that psychoanalytic therapy avails itself of a natural function of the mind—emotional-intuitive functioning— potentially present in each of us, that allows us to make contact with unconscious processes in our patients and in ourselves.’

-- Howard B. Levine, Editor-in-Chief, 'The Routledge W. R. Bion Studies Series'

‘Approximately fifteen years ago, I had the chance to be the first to publish Franco De Masi’s work in French. Since then, I have never stopped publishing his writing. His great psychoanalytic knowledge and methodological competencies, combined with undeniable clinical experience, notably in the field of psychosis, have made him an essential contemporary author. Thanks to the clarity of his thinking, the reader of Lessons in Psychoanalysis will not only be able to return to the fundamentals of practice, but will also be able to access a specifically analytical examination of psychopathology from the best of today’s psychoanalytic clinical work.’

-- Ana de Staal, psychoanalyst, member of the Freudian Psychoanalysis Society, and publisher in Paris

‘Franco De Masi’s new book is a milestone in teaching psychoanalysis. It displays the author’s unique capacity to explain basic concepts up to complex clinical issues, like countertransference, trauma, and states of psychic withdrawal. It will be an essential text not only for the psychoanalytic student, but also for those experts who want to deepen and extend their didactic competence. The book also provides an insight into the author’s own clinical work and areas of research, in particular in working with narcissistic, borderline-psychotic, and severely traumatised patients. In my view, an invaluable contribution.’

-- Prof. Heinz Weiss, head, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Robert Bosch Hospital, Stuttgart, and member, board of directors, Sigmund Freud Institute, Frankfurt am