The Volkans on Schizophrenia


Last week I posted some thoughts on schizophrenia based on reading several books, including that of Christopher Bollas, some of whose books have been published Phoenix Publishing House. 

Now, to my great excitement and interest, Phoenix, whose praises I have previously sung, has a book coming out early in the new year co-authored by a man whom I have learned a great deal from, and whom I interviewed on here some time back: Vamik Volkan, with Kevin Volkan. They have teamed up to write Schizophrenia: Science, Psychoanalysis and Culture (Phoenix, February 2022), 240pp. 

I am very much looking forward to reading this and, if I can arrange it, to interviewing both authors. I'll keep you posted. 

About this forthcoming book we are told this: 

Two leading experts, one with a broad range of experience of institutional settings and cultures using psychodynamic, behavioral, and psychopharmacological modalities, the other an experienced psychoanalyst, bring together the complex history, causes, and treatments of schizophrenia in an easy-to-read and academically rigorous text.

Kevin Volkan and Vamık Volkan present a comprehensive study of schizophrenia using a psychoanalytic lens on the existing interdisciplinary research. Over the last seventy years, mainstream research on the causes, prevalence, and treatment of schizophrenia has greatly diverged from psychoanalytic thinking. However, the emergence of the field of neuropsychoanalysis brings hope that psychoanalytic metapsychology and clinical theory may once again provide valuable insight into understanding schizophrenia.

Psychoanalytic treatment may not be appropriate for many sufferers but psychoanalysis does provide insight to inform and improve treatment. It can also illuminate what aspects of schizophrenia are common across cultures, where they present unique characteristics, and just how cultural variations occur. For any future improvement in understanding and treating schizophrenia, the cultural underpinnings and expressions of schizophrenic illness need to be made clear.

For clinicians in the field, the authors’ aim is to deepen insight and promote the use of psychotherapy and integrated treatments, while increasing sensitivity to cultural variations in schizophrenic disease. Accordingly, this book is divided into four sections. The first gives a brief overview and outline of the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia. The second drills down to focus on general psychoanalytic ideas about schizophrenia, culminating with a focus on problems with early object relations. The third looks at how psychoanalytic treatment can be successful in some cases. The fourth and final part discusses how views of the disorder and the disorder itself are affected by culture.

The authors hope to generate insight and understanding of schizophrenic disorders which could lead to new approaches to treating and possibly preventing schizophrenia. It is a must-read for all clinicians and trainees working in the field and presents insightful ideas to anyone with an interest in the subject.

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