Antonino Ferro: A Contemporary Introduction

This book provides a clear, thorough, and accessible introduction to the work of Antonino Ferro and draws on the clinical vignettes that punctuate his writings to show how Ferro has built on Bions revolutionary achievements to develop a distinctive, game-changing version of field theory in psychoanalysis.

The book clarifies the phenomenological insight that the analyst and the patient together generate an ever-evolving, intersubjective field. Rather than the supposed psychology of the individual, it is this populous and multidimensional field, a co-created in-between rich in characters and stories, that is to be explored and elaborated. The primary points of access to this new multiverse are dream, reverie, metaphor, and imagination. A radical Negative Capability is called for, not least to help dissolve co-constructed bastions obstructing the fields expansion. The book sketches out the Italian and international context in which Ferro developed his thinking and addresses some key critical questions. It concludes that Ferros lifes work, which marries theoretical rigour with a revitalising increase in playfulness and freedom of response, is a transformational force within psychoanalysis and a major catalyst in its evolution.

This important volume is rewarding reading for beginning and seasoned analysts alike, as well as for psychotherapists, counsellors, humanities scholars, and anyone interested in psychoanalysis.