Transforming Aggression: Psychotherapy with the Difficult-to-Treat Patient

Although Lachmann”s energetic and astute discussions of countertransference and projective identification would probably be best appreciated by the more theoretically sophisticated analytic practitioner, I would say that every other section of this book makes accessible, fascinating, and enjoyable reading for any educated, intelligent, and curious individual, with or without knowledge of psychoanalysis. Throughout the book Lachmann”s ideas are illustrated with ample case material, literary references, and research findings, such that the reader has the opportunity to visit and revisit complex concepts in various guises and contexts…

Although Lachmann”s energetic and astute discussions of countertransference and projective identification would probably be best appreciated by the more theoretically sophisticated analytic practitioner, I would say that every other section of this book makes accessible, fascinating, and enjoyable reading for any educated, intelligent, and curious individual, with or without knowledge of psychoanalysis.Throughout the book Lachmann”s ideas are illustrated with ample case material, literary references, and research findings, such that the reader has the opportunity to visit and revisit complex concepts in various guises and contexts.

This book deals with aggression in all its forms in the most thorough and clinically relevant manner, from the mildest sense of annoyance to cold-blooded serial killings. With its numerous examples, the book captivates, entertains, but primarily informs the reader about the latest views of the origin and clinical manifestations of aggression. The detailed clinical reports that sensitively capture the nuances of the interaction in the analytic dyad take up the discussion of the most central and currently hotly debated issues regarding the relationship between assertion and destructive aggression. Psychotherapists of every theoretical persuasion will find Transforming Aggression most rewarding and instructive. — Anna Ornstein M.D., Harvard Medical School