1st Edition

Chaos and Control A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Unfolding Creative Minds

By Desy Safan-Gerard Copyright 2018
    304 Pages
    by Routledge

    304 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book explores the role of chaos and control in the creative process as well as the difference between talent and creativity. Part One describes explores some of the common biases and pitfalls in the analysis and therapy of creative people, the role of the accidental in creative work, the nature of creative blocks, passion and its absence, as well as the problem of being able to exercise one's freedom. The author describes the special needs of creative patients, the common problems arising in therapy, its solutions, and, most importantly, the analyst's distinctive role when dealing with such patients. She also probes into the role of narcissism, neurosis, and psychosis on creative work.

    Part 1: Theories, Conditions, And Obstacles  1. Chaos and control in the creative process  2. Talent and creativity  3. The role of the accident in the creative act  4. The psychodynamics of creative blocks  5. On not knowing: discerning the mental and emotional requirements of creative work  6. Why bother? From indifference to passion  7. Is creativity dangerous?  8. Art and madness  Part 2 : My Own Development  9. Music: my first love 10. How painting became a passion  11. Creativity: from the painting studio to the consulting room  12. The evolution of a painting  13. Love and hate in the creative process  14. Destructiveness and reparation: a retrospective  15. From mistake to mistake: the creative process in four large paintings  16. As in the flesh

    Biography

    Desy Safán-Gerard, Ph.D., is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of California in Los Angeles. She has led a threefold life in music, painting and psychoanalysis. Her book is based on her papers and presentations in the USA, Europe and South America over the last forty years. As a practicing psychoanalyst, she focuses on the unique needs of creative patients in treatment.