An Introduction to Psychoanalysis: Contemporary Theory and Practice

"I'm a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and I know this book well. The title might mislead you but this is not a book intended for the general public. And I also think that its not an introduction either. This is a review of the major psychoanalytic schools of thought. Also, being the pinpoint of general ideas, if you haven't studied them before and underwent psychoanalysis or therapy yourself, there is no way you can understand what they really mean. So I guess that the book is really of little or no use to the lay public and therapists alike. There are others that are much better, and here goes my advice. If you have little or no contact with psychoanalysis, Freud's basic texts are where you should beguine. But my favorite introduction has to be Charles Brenner's "An elementary textbook of psychoanalysis". It's theoretically outdated and much is left out, but is a brilliantly simple read. Mind that you will never understand psychoanalysis through a book, you'll have to live it first. And for that matter, Brenner's book is one of the best you can get. Bateman's book however might be good for psychoanalytic students revising for a seminar or a papper. "
~ Written on 2007-03-22

"Holmes and Bateman's treatment of this vast area is succinct and clear. Given the technical complexity of many of the issues, the presentation is admirably straightforward and coherent. It's true that it does seem to cater somewhat more for therapists or counsellors in training than the general reader, but, that said, it does a difficult job better than any other text I am aware of in the field."
~ Written on 2005-12-07

"The authors of this volume appear to have ignored many of the basic requirements of any text which claims to be an "introduction" to a subject. Perplexing terminology is used from the first page with little or no explanation to enlighten the reader.
The book does little to contradict the popular stereotype of a psychoanalyst as a beard-stroking, bespectacled oddity and much of the work seems esoteric and abstruse; long words are used where short words would suffice. With a good dictionary and a bit of lateral thinking you can figure your way through most of what's being said, but for 16 quid and a title with the word "introduction" in it, I honestly expected something more in the style of the many comprehensive and unconfusing introductions you get to other fields, say Nagel's "What does it all mean?" or Warburton's "Basics" on Philosophy.
The clinical portraits are entertaining, but I shut the book not much wiser than when I opened it. Maybe it's the field which is to blame and not the authors.
When the finest quotations of the greatest post-Freud psychoanalysts are gems like "Breast=Penis" you kind of get the feeling that psychoanalysts don't get out much.
It's interesting, but it doesn't make it easy for you. Maybe I'll just have to swallow my pride and buy those less-serious-looking comic-book styley introduction to Freud & Jung books if I want "illumination"."
~ Written on 2002-03-05

"The authors of this volume appear to have ignored many of the basic requirements of any text which claims to be an "introduction" to a subject. Perplexing terminology is used from the first page with little or no explanation to enlighten the reader.
The book does little to contradict the popular stereotype of a psychoanalyst as a beard-stroking, bespectacled oddity and much of the work seems esoteric and abstruse; long words are used where short words would suffice. With a good dictionary and a bit of lateral thinking you can figure your way through most of what's being said, but for [...] xa title with the word "introduction" in it, I honestly expected something more in the style of the many comprehensive and unconfusing introductions you get to other fields, say Nagel's "What does it all mean?" or Warburton's "Basics" on Philosophy.
The clinical portraits are entertaining, but I shut the book not much wiser than when I opened it. Maybe it's the field which is to blame and not the authors.
When the finest quotations of the greatest post-Freud psychoanalysts are gems like "Breast=Penis" you kind of get the feeling that psychoanalysts don't get out much.
It's interesting, but it doesn't make it easy for you. Maybe I'll just have to swallow my pride and buy those less-serious-looking comic-book styley introduction to Freud & Jung books if I want "illumination"."
~ Written on 2002-03-04