The Joy of Torment

Understanding and Managing Sadomasochism

Salman Akhtar, Lisa Crilley

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English

Phoenix Publishing House
21 November 2024

Psychoanalytical theory (Freudian psychology); Sexual behaviour; Clinical psychology

A search for answers on the subject of sadomasochism: its origins, forms and functions, nature, and societal status. An international group of distinguished psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychoanalysts investigate the riddle of sadomasochism from heuristic, ontogenetic, nosological, psychodynamic, sociocultural, and therapeutic perspectives.

With contributions from Prachi Akhavi, Salman Akhtar, Ruth Axelrod-Praes, Lisa Crilley, Victoria Curea, Tom DeRose, Nilofer Kaul, Otto Kernberg, Arsalan Malik, Jack Novick, Kerry Kelly Novick, Philip A. Ringstrom, Louis Rothschild, Asmita Sharma, and Benny Weiss-Steider.

The psychosocial existence of human destructiveness, rage, and cruelty directed at others or the self is clearly demonstrated in events throughout the world. It was Sigmund Freud who revealed that the two tendencies, 'sadism' and 'masochism' constitute a pair sadomasochism and often, if not always, coexist in the same fantasy, thought, and action. Mostly, one is on the surface with the other hidden; at other times, a rapid oscillation between the two occurs.

Nonetheless many questions remain unanswered. Are sadism and masochism 'natural' phenomena or products of derailed and traumatic nurture? Are they always pathological? Can sadomasochistic relations ever be kind? The search for answers led to this book. Divided into three parts conceptual, cultural, and clinical aspects the contributors explore Freud's changing views, contemporary incarnations, the delusion of omnipotence, misogyny and pornography, altruism and martyrdom, society and the family, childhood grieving and failure of mourning, couples psychotherapy, sexual excitement, cruelty, and the use of the internet. With a masterful blend of classic and contemporary theory and clinical practice, their nuanced and thoughtful voices provide an informative and moving work.

AUTHOR: Salman Akhtar, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia.

He has served on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the Psychoanalytic Quarterly. His more than 400 publications include 105 books, of which the following 22 are solo-authored: Broken Structures (1992), Quest for Answers (1995), Inner Torment (1999), Immigration and Identity (1999), New Clinical Realms (2003), Objects of Our Desire (2005), Regarding Others (2007), Turning Points in Dynamic Psychotherapy (2009), The Damaged Core (2009), Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (2009), Immigration and Acculturation (2011), Matters of Life and Death (2011), The Book of Emotions (2012), Psychoanalytic Listening (2013), Good Stuff (2013), Sources of Suffering (2014), No Holds Barred (2016), A Web of Sorrow (2017), Mind, Culture, and Global Unrest (2018), Silent Virtues (2019), Tales of Transformation (2021), and In Leaps and Bounds (2022).

Edited by: Salman Akhtar, Lisa Crilley
Imprint: Phoenix Publishing House
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 19mm
Weight: 528g
ISBN: 9781800133013
ISBN 10: 1800133014
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 21 November 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Salman Akhtar, MD, is professor of psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and a training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has served on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. His more than 450 publications include twenty-three solo authored books – Broken Structures (1992), Quest for Answers (1995), Inner Torment (1999), Immigration and Identity (1999), New Clinical Realms (2003), Objects of Our Desire (2005), Regarding Others (2007), Turning Points in Dynamic Psychotherapy (2009), The Damaged Core (2009), Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (2009), Immigration and Acculturation (2011), Matters of Life and Death (2011), Psychoanalytic Listening (2013), Good Stuff (2013), Sources of Suffering (2014), No Holds Barred (2016), A Web of Sorrow (2017), Mind, Culture, and Global Unrest (2018), Silent Virtues (2019), Tales of Transformation (2022), In Leaps and Bounds (2022), and In Short (2024) – as well as sixty- nine edited or coedited volumes in psychiatry and psychoanalysis. Dr. Akhtar has delivered many prestigious addresses and lectures including, most significantly, the inaugural address at the first IPA-Asia Congress in Beijing, China (2010). Dr. Akhtar is the recipient of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Best Paper of the Year Award (1995), the Margaret Mahler Literature Prize (1996), the American Society of Psychoanalytic Physicians’ Sigmund Freud Award (2000), the American College of Psychoanalysts’ Laughlin Award (2003), the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Edith Sabshin Award (2000), Columbia University’s Robert Liebert Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Psychoanalysis (2004), the American Psychiatric Association’s Kun Po Soo Award (2004), the Irma Bland Award for being the Outstanding Teacher of Psychiatric Residents in the country (2005), and the Nancy Roeske Award (2012). He received the Sigourney Award (2013), which is the most prestigious honor in the field of psychoanalysis. Dr. Akhtar is an internationally sought speaker and teacher, and his books have been translated in many languages, including German, Turkish, and Romanian. His interests are wide and he has served as the film review editor for the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, and is currently serving as the book review editor for the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. He has published eighteen collections of poetry and serves as a scholar-in-residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia. His Selected Papers (Vols I–X) were recently published and released at a festive event held at the Freud House & Museum in London. Lisa Crilley, LMFT, is a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist, clinical supervisor of young psychotherapists and associates, and senior candidate in psychoanalysis who is deeply invested in matters of psychic growth. Her particular clinical interests include personality development, complex trauma, compulsive ways of self-regulating, and primitive and psychotic states. Her rigorous training, which involved earning her master’s degree from Antioch University Los Angeles and continuing her studies at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS), laid the groundwork for her to become a vibrant, assiduous leader at LAISPS and in the psychoanalytic community. Crilley proudly represents LAISPS on the Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies (CIPS) board and the International Psychoanalytical Studies Organization (IPSO). In addition to chairing LAISPS’s community relations program and cochairing the organization’s program committee and specialized training program, “Altered States of Body and Mind: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Substance Abuse and Eating Disorders,” Crilley also teaches and lectures at Los Angeles psychoanalytic institutes as well as in the community and is currently creating new programming for LAISPS focused on introducing psychoanalytic thinking to a general audience. Lisa is an avid reader; her book reviews have appeared in the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies and the American Journal of Psychoanalysis.