Affects As Process: An Inquiry into the Centrality of Affect in Psychological Life: 0014 (Psychoanalytic Inquiry Book Series)

Product description Review "Good analysts have always known that affect is where the therapeutic action is, but have long lamented the absence of a comprehensive psychoanalytic theory of affectivity. In Affects as Process, Joseph Jones has filled this glaring gap in the literature brilliantly. Beginning with the proposition that affect is a presymbolic mode of knowing oneself and the world, Jones mends the traditional false dichotomy between affect and cognition and offers not only a beautiful account of the ontogeny of emotional life but important insights into the development of thought as well. Rich in clinical implications and written in a wonderfully lucid style, this gem of a volume is destined to become a psychological classic."- Robert G. Stolorow, Ph.D., Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles"In this trailblazing book on affect, Josepf Jones offers a radical and, to my mind, absolutely necessary reexamination of fundamental psychoanalytic assumptions about affects. His demonstration that the precursors of affect operate from the beginning of life is a tremendous step forward in our understanding of posttraumatic stress. Likewise, his reconceptualization of affects as 'process' that significantly determines how we think and act will be the basis for modifying many important theories and practices."- Henry Krystal, M.D., Michigan State University"This is a groundbreaking book, a truly modern, highly intelligent, and always thought-provoking study of the development, structure, and function of affect in psychological life. Affects as Process represents a major contribution to contemporary affect theory."- Thomas Ogden, M.D., Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California From the Back Cover Drawing on the literatures of child development, ethology, and neuroscience, Joseph Jones argues that, in their simplest form, affects are best understood as the presymbolic representatives and governors of motivational systems. So conceptualized, affects, and not primary process, constitute the initial processing system of the prerepresentational infant. It then becomes possible to re-vision early development as the sequential maturation of different motivational systems, each governed by a specific presymbolic affect. More complex emotional states, which emerge when the toddler begins to think symbolically, represent the integration of motivational systems and thought as maturation plunges the child into a world of loves and hates that cannot be escaped simply through hehavior. About the Author Joseph M. Jones, M.D., is a Training and Supervising Analyst as the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute and the Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis. He is on the clinical faculty of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and maintains a private practice in the West Los Angeles area.Joseph M. Jones, M.D., is a Training and Supervising Analyst as the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute and the Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis. He is on the clinical faculty of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and maintains a private practice in the West Los Angeles area. Read more