Electrified Tightrope

321 Pages·2004·7.37 MB·English

by  Michael Eigen

T R I F I ED
T I G H T R O PE
M I C H A EL
E I G EN
ed by A d am Phillips
THE ELECTRIFIED TIGHTROPE

THE ELECTRIFIED TIGHTROPE

Michael Eigen, Ph.D.
edited by Adam Phillips
K A R N AC
LONDON NEW YORK
First published in 1993 by Jason Aronson Inc., Ν J, USA
Reprinted in 2004 with the author's permission by
H. Karnac (Books) Ltd,
118 Finchley Road,
London NW3 5HT
Copyright © 2004 by Michael Eigen
Introduction Copyright © 1993 by Adam Phillips
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CLP. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978 1 85575 396 9
www. karnacbooks. com
Printed & bound by Antony Rowe Ltd, Eastbourne
To Henry Elkin

In memoriam

Ceaseless battle, victory ever in view

What is a life of faith?

1 - T ^ ^ i ^ ! ^ ? ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ . . .
Promised lands slip
on hidden sweetness
God's face in the center
of the fall.
— Michael Eigen

Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction by Adam Phillips xiii

Introductory Notes xvii

1 Abstinence and the Schizoid Ego 1

2 Psychopathy and Individuation 9

3 The Recoil on Having Another Person 21

4 Working with "Unwanted" Patients 25

5 Breathing and Identity 43

6 The Significance of the Face 49

7 Instinctual Fantasy and Ideal Images 61

8 Creativity, Instinctual Fantasy, and Ideal Images 77

9 Ideal Images, Creativity, and the Freudian Drama 95

10 Soft and Hard Qualities 105

11 The Area of Faith in Winnicott, Lacan, and Bion 109

12 Guntrip's Analysis with Winnicott 139

13 Breaking the Frame: Stopping the World 147

ix