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This admirable and refreshing series sets out to present psychoanalytic theories and
concepts in a way that is accessible and meaningful to the interested reader. The authors are each rooted in a psychoanalytic perspective but with a range of different experiences including: work across the age range in both NHS settings and private practice, teaching, writing, and non-clinical work. There are 17 books at present, each taking up a particular theme significant in psychoanalytic thinking. I have selected a few to provide a snapshot of the series which I hope conveys my experience of an enjoyable, interesting and generally refreshing look at a range of significant issues. For example: Guilt, Depression, The Unconscious, Phantasy, Anxiety.
It would be all too easy to quickly become caught up in the complexity of any single theme, daunted by differing theoretical models and the potentially wide audience including peers. The authors each pursue their task and in the main successfully manage to maintain their position of authority in relation to psychoanalytic ideas whilst locating them firmly in the ordinary, everyday experiences that resonate with a wide readership and enrich psychoanalytic understanding.
The topics were approached differently, reflecting the diversity amongst the authors. In the short introduction to Depression, Jeremy Holmes immediately and adroitly draws the reader into the familiarity of experience as well as informing the reader about depression. He writes: ‘Most of the time most of us feel mostly OK. We can sleep in our beds at night; our appetites - gustatory, sexual and exploratory - function normally; we can concentrate on whatever we happen to be doing, make plans, cope with setbacks and expect that things will turn out all right. … For the depressed person, none of these simple securities can be taken for granted …’ (p. 3). Holmes continues to unveil the complexity of depression emphasising the significance of loss in the genesis of this condi