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The Promise

Who is in Charge of Time and Space?
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Promise explores the foundation of our psychological identity, originating in infancy with the deep-seated belief that we are the centre of the universe, safeguarded by all-powerful, loving parents. Leonard Shengold examines how this early "promise" of protection and eternal happiness remains unconscious yet influential throughout life, compelling us to confront the harsh realities of time, decline, and mortality while grappling with innate anger and mental conflict. Through clinical cases and literary examples, the book reveals the enduring impact of this inner promise, concluding with insights drawn from the experience of an eight-month-old infant.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This thought-provoking work is ideal for readers interested in psychoanalysis, developmental psychology, and philosophy. Mental health professionals and those curious about the unconscious dynamics shaping identity and mortality will find it particularly illuminating.

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The "Promise" is described in patients and in examples from biography and fiction in relation to anniversaries and specific holidays. The book ends with a specific illustration in relation to an eight-month-old infant.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Our sense of identity begins (our psychological birth sometime in the first year of life) with the feeling that we are the centre of the universe, protected by godlike benevolent parents who will enable us to live happily ever after. This is the Promise that is never given up, lurking in the unconscious part of our minds.

We must learn, reluctantly, that our parents are unable to protect us from the passage of time, from decline, and from death. Yet we retain, even as adults, the delusion that, while others may die, we never will. This adds fuel to the murderous anger we are born with and must master, alongside the contradictory vertical split in the mind that we are destined to die.

The Promise is described in patients and in examples from biography and fiction in relation to anniversaries and specific holidays. The book ends with a specific illustration in relation to an eight-month-old infant.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781782201502

Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 October 2014

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Karnac Books

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 147.0mm

Height: 230.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 188

About the Author

Dr Leonard Shengold is a training analyst and former Director of the Institute for Psychoanalytic Education (affiliated with NYU School of Medicine, where he is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry). He has published eight books including 'Soul Murder' (1989), 'Haunted by Parents' (2006), and over seventy-five papers on clinical, theoretical and applied psychoanalytic topics. He graduated from Columbia College and Downstate New York Medical School, was an officer in both the American and the International Psychoanalytic Associations, and is currently in private practice as a psychiatrist in New York City.

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