Lacanian Psychoanalysis between the Child and the Other : Exploring the Cultures of Childhood

Lacanian Psychoanalysis between the Child and the Other explores what topology can contribute to clinical work with children, emphasizing that psychoanalytic listening goes beyond the individuals who attend a session. This kind of listening does not seek for what is hidden inside; rather it seeks to create a continuous topological transformation, with topology regarded as the most sophisticated way in which structure, structuring and playing can be thought. Using Lacan’s theoretical framework, the book provides a new perspective on working with children, re-examining fundamental Lacanian concepts such as structure, subject, lack, Other, clinic and, of course, child itself. It charts how time and space are knitted together for children in psychoanalysis, and how a Lacanian approach can enable clinical practitioners and researchers to venture into cultures of childhood, helping them conceptualize and intervene in the process of knitting and unknotting. The book will be of interest to psychoanalytic child clinicians in practice and training, as well as researchers in the field of child psychoanalysis.