Work and the evolving self : theoretical and clinical considerations / Steven D. Axelrod.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Axelrod, Steven D., 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Industrial psychiatry.

Work--Psychological aspects.

Work.

Quality of work life.

Occupational Medicine.

Medical Subjects:

Occupational Medicine.

Physical Description:

xxi, 150 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Hillsdale, NJ : Analytic Press, 1999.

Summary:

Despite the central role of the workplace in American social and economic life, psychoanalysis has had little to contribute to our national conversation about the nature and meaning of work. In Work and the Evolving Self, Steven Axelrod begins to remedy this serious oversight by examining the psychodynamic meaning of work throughout the life cycle. He begins by exploring the various dimensions of work satisfaction from a psychoanalytic perspective and then expands on the relationship between work life and the adult developmental process; he is especially concerned with the reciprocal way in which changing psychological needs and the demands and opportunities of work life influence one another throughout adulthood.

This developmental perspective frames Axelrod's central task: an examination of the typical work-related problems encountered in clinical practice. Beginning with a psychodynamic definition of a "work disturbance, " he goes on to delineate four specific categories of work-related dysfunction: work inhibition, workaholism, work diffusion, and depression/disability. Case vignettes under-score the distinctiveness of each type of work disturbance. Moving on to treatment issues, Axelrod elaborates on the manner in which assessment, supportive, and exploratory interventions all enter into the treatment of work disturbances. The status of work in the treatment process, including the therapist's own values about work and the ways in which therapy itself comprises both work and play, are perceptively addressed. Axelrod concludes by considering issues of career development that emerge in individual psychotherapy and exploring the psychological implications of dramatic changes nowtaking place in the workplace.

Work and the Evolving Self is very much a psychoanalytic study of our time, since it demonstrates the adaptability of the psychoanalytic perspective to a range of treatments -- from psychoanalysis to psychotherapy to vocational counseling -- as they implicate the challenges and dilemmas of the workplace. It is a heartening example of the manner in which psychoanalytic principles can be applied to new populations and new therapeutic contingencies.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 141-145) and index.

ISBN:

0881632074

OCLC:

40251630