Following on from the first volume, this is an international collaboration by psychotherapists and psychoanalysts who consider the impact of virtual reality on our society and the uses of communications technology for analytic treatment and professional training. Having examined the impact of communications technology on mental health and relationships, the authors explore its use in analytical treatment conducted on the telephone and over the internet, and review its problems and possibilities. They provide a multi-faceted view of it, an ethical stance in relation to it, and evidence from which to judge its effectiveness. Looking into the future they imagine a time when technology-supported analytic treatment may be not only convenient as a supplement to in-person treatment but also preferable for some patients and therapists in various circumstances.
Industry Reviews
'Anna Freud's chair touched the analysand's couch. Without looking at the patient--like all analysts she sat behind them--she could sense the shifting expressions expressed by the body. Half a century later, other analysts have even more heightened sense-experiences of their patients' inner lives and bodily being. In the twenty-fi rst century as more and more patients turn to analysis by phone these extra sensory perceptions become even more fi nely attuned and attenuated as modern day analysts fi nd that in accepting teleanalysis they have, often to their surprise, deepened the Freudian fi elds of perception. Jill Savege Scharff and the other contributors to this book advance the depth potential of psychoanalysis and are, fortunately, not above controversy in doing so.'--Christopher Bollas, author of The Shadow of the Object and Being a Character: Psychoanalysis and Self Experience'Is it important to be in the same room with a patient, to breathe the same air? How important is the possibility of physical contact, even if never exercised? In what instance might physical distance between therapist and patient be of help? The authors explore the psychological impact of current modes of communicating - telephone, e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook - on our lives, and their role in contemporary treatment. This book is essential reading for those who work (or think of working) with new technologies, as either therapists or teachers.'--Daniel Jacobs, Training analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Chair of American Psychoanalytic Association Study Group on New Technologies, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School'This book shows the considerable progress already made in consolidating the body of knowledge of "distance psychoanalysis" and builds on this foundation to develop the theory and technique further. Jill Savege Scharff is an able editor, author, architect, designer, and co-constructor of this extension of psychoanalysis. The result is a book that moves the field of distance analysis forward, as the contributors bring their rich and varied experiences to explore it in relation to social life, computer science, and the law, yielding a valuable, comprehensive perspective on this rapidly evolving type of psychoanalytic practice. Showing why this new technique is needed now and anticipating future conditions, the authors promote the conceptual development of distance analysis. Instead of speaking in a single voice or giving stock answers, they raise questions that await elaboration and open many possibilities, a true reflection of the analytic process.'--Ricardo Carlino, author of Distance Psychoanalysis: The Theory and Practice of Using Communication Technology in the Clinic
