Overview

Salman Akhtar presents three rich essays brimming with psychoanalytic theory on personality development and how such knowledge enhances treatment. Essay 1 starts at the earliest infancy and takes the reader all along the path past adolescence. It addresses key developmental landmarks, including: - Establishing a satisfactory parental bond - Moving towards autonomy and independence - Acquiring a moral sense - Consolidating identity Essay 2 picks up after adolescence. It addresses the psychosocial challenges characteristic of young adulthood, midlife, and old age, such as: - Assuming the role of a wage-earner and 'house-holder' - Enjoying sex, love, and marriage - Downsizing and retiring from one's job - Dealing with the deaths of friends and family and facing one's own mortality Essay 3 builds upon the theory that has gone before and examines how a deepened understanding of psychic development can inform the clinician's approach. With an emphasis on development as a lifelong process, this essay provides clear guidelines for facilitating such growth, including: - Creating psychic space for thinking - Helping the patient find words for inner experiences - Validating the patient's reality - Enhancing the sense of personal agency in the patient. The complex tapestry woven by these three essays is extended by a prologue and an epilogue. The prologue opens with the 'pre-self' - events before birth that impact on who we become. The epilogue discusses the 'post-self' - how we 'live on' as memories held by those who knew us. In Leaps and Bounds deepens the understanding of the nuances of human development. It is key reading for practising and trainee psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists to enhance their clinical practice. It is highly recommended for all enquiring minds looking to expand their knowledge of what makes us who we are.

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9781800130746

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Reviews

'Despite Akhtar's psychoanalytic grounding, the interventions are highly relevant to therapists of different modalities owing to their largely relational nature. I found his suggestions to be very thought-provoking in terms of attending to the relationship, and well illustrated by detailed and culturally diverse vignettes.' -- Emily Harrison, BACP Therapy Today 'Salman Akhtar draws on four decades of experience as a doctor, poet, academic, immigrant, and psychoanalyst in a work of sculpted creativity that deepens our understanding of lifelong development and of development-facilitating interventions. This results in a culturally and linguistically sensitive book, which includes powerful poetry, for psychoanalytic, medical, and psychology students as well as for seasoned clinicians. Akhtar has unpacked the metapsychology of developmental help in the clearest exposition I have ever read.' -- Jennifer Davids, Supervising Child and Adolescent Psychoanalyst, British Psychoanalytical Society (BPaS); Adult, Child, and Adolescent Psychoanalyst, BPaS, IPA 'Salman Akhtar provides us with a rich psychoanalytic exploration of development: from the prenatal period to old age. With an exquisite writing style, he integrates analytic concepts, developmental principles, and sociocultural forces. To highlight this work, he illustrates the theoretical principles with almost twenty clinical vignettes. This makes his book highly readable and useful for clinicians at all levels of experience.' -- Leon Hoffman, Co-Director, Pacella Research Center, New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute; Chief Psychiatrist, West End Day School 'With a writing style that blends medical scholarship, psychoanalysis, poetry, and storytelling, In Leaps and Bounds takes us on an inspiring journey through life's developmental seasons. It offers us a coherent and eminently useful set of development-facilitating interventions that enhance patients' autonomy, validate subjectivity, create space for thinking, and provide words for the unmentalized sectors of inner experience. This is a striking addition to our therapeutic armamentarium!' -- Olga Santa Maria, Training and Supervising Analyst, APM, IPA President, Mexican Psychoanalytic Society

'Salman Akhtar draws on four decades of experience as a doctor, poet, academic, immigrant, and psychoanalyst in a work of sculpted creativity that deepens our understanding of lifelong development and of development-facilitating interventions. This results in a culturally and linguistically sensitive book, which includes powerful poetry, for psychoanalytic, medical, and psychology students as well as for seasoned clinicians. Akhtar has unpacked the metapsychology of developmental help in the clearest exposition I have ever read.' -- Jennifer Davids, Supervising Child and Adolescent Psychoanalyst, British Psychoanalytical Society (BPaS); Adult, Child, and Adolescent Psychoanalyst, BPaS, IPA 'Salman Akhtar provides us with a rich psychoanalytic exploration of development: from the prenatal period to old age. With an exquisite writing style, he integrates analytic concepts, developmental principles, and sociocultural forces. To highlight this work, he illustrates the theoretical principles with almost twenty clinical vignettes. This makes his book highly readable and useful for clinicians at all levels of experience.' -- Leon Hoffman, Co-Director, Pacella Research Center, New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute; Chief Psychiatrist, West End Day School 'With a writing style that blends medical scholarship, psychoanalysis, poetry, and storytelling, In Leaps and Bounds takes us on an inspiring journey through life's developmental seasons. It offers us a coherent and eminently useful set of development-facilitating interventions that enhance patients' autonomy, validate subjectivity, create space for thinking, and provide words for the unmentalized sectors of inner experience. This is a striking addition to our therapeutic armamentarium!' -- Olga Santa Maria, Training and Supervising Analyst, APM, IPA President, Mexican Psychoanalytic Society

Author Information

Salman Akhtar, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has served on the editorial boards of The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the Psychoanalytic Quarterly. His nearly 400 publications include 99 books, of which the following 20 are solo-authored: Broken Structures (1992), Quest for Answers (1995), Inner Torment (1999), Immigration and Identity (1999), New Clinical Realms (2003), Objects of Our Desire (2005), Regarding Others (2007), Turning Points in Dynamic Psychotherapy (2009), The Damaged Core (2009), Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (2009), Immigration and Acculturation (2011), Matters of Life and Death (2011), The Book of Emotions (2012), Psychoanalytic Listening (2013), Good Stuff (2013), Sources of Suffering (2014), No Holds Barred (2016), A Web of Sorrow (2017), Mind, Culture, and Global Unrest (2018), and Silent Virtues (2019). Dr Akhtar has delivered many prestigious invited lectures including a Plenary Address at the 2nd International Congress of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders in Oslo, Norway (1991), an Invited Plenary Paper at the 2nd International Margaret S. Mahler Symposium in Cologne, Germany (1993), an Invited Plenary Paper at the Rencontre Franco-Americaine de Psychanalyse meeting in Paris, France (1994), a Keynote Address at the 43rd IPA Congress in Rio de Janiero, Brazil (2005), the Plenary Address at the 150th Freud Birthday Celebration sponsored by the Dutch Psychoanalytic Society and the Embassy of Austria in Leiden, Holland (2006), and the Inaugural Address at the first IPA-Asia Congress in Beijing, China (2010). Dr Akhtar is the recipient of numerous awards including the American Psychoanalytic Association's Edith Sabshin Award (2000), Columbia University's Robert Liebert Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Psychoanalysis (2004), the American Psychiatric Association's Kun Po Soo Award (2004) and Irma Bland Award for being the Outstanding Teacher of Psychiatric Residents in the country (2005). He received the highly prestigious Sigourney Award (2012) for distinguished contributions to psychoanalysis. In 2103, he gave the Commencement Address at graduation ceremonies of the Smith College School of Social Work in Northampton, MA. Dr Akhtar's books have been translated into many languages, including German, Italian, Korean, Persian, Romanian, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish. A true Renaissance man, Dr Akhtar has served as the Film Review Editor for The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, and is currently serving as the Book Review Editor for the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. He has published 9 collections of poetry and serves as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia.

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