Have you ever been praised or criticised about your body or any part of it? With this question, participants of a research study were invited to share their experiences of body judgment. Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Gaze, Body Image, Shame, Judgment and Maternal Function: Being and Belonging offers an insightful and engaging psychoanalytical account of experiences of shame and fear of rejection, explained through clinical vignettes and research participants’ scripts.
Key Features
- Explores findings from individual and social standpoints, as well as cultural and historical influences.
- Proposes that judgements are experienced as attacks, affecting the sense of self.
- A central focus on participants’ identity trauma and the impact of body criticism.
- Includes a brief introduction to psychoanalytic concepts and a full glossary.
- Appeals to both psychoanalysts and non-psychoanalytic readers interested in body image.
Additional Information
This book will be of great interest to psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, as well as scholars of culture and religion. Furthermore, guilt requires reparative action, while shame requires an act of sacrifice to align the individual to the ideal and to preserve the matrix of belonging, thus explaining the participants’ use of alienation as a defence.
