George E. Atwood

Last updated
George E. Atwood
Born(1944-10-00)October , 1944
Nationality American
Alma mater University of Arizona, University of Oregon
Known for intersubjective psychoanalysis
Scientific career
Fields Psychology, Clinical Psychology
Institutions Rutgers University

George E. Atwood (born October 1944) is an American clinical psychologist. Atwood and his collaborator Robert Stolorow introduced the concept of intersubjectivity to the field of psychoanalysis. Their book Faces in a Cloud (1979) established the theory of intersubjective psychoanalysis which influenced analytic thinking across many schools of psychoanalysis. [1] Atwood is professor emeritus of Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University where he received the Lindback Award. [2] He is an honorary member of the American Psychoanalytic Association and Founding Faculty Member at the Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity in New York City. [3]

Contents

Biography

George E. Atwood was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, in 1944. He earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Arizona in 1965, an M.A. in Psychology from the University of Oregon in 1967, and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon in 1969. His mentors included Austin DesLauriers and Silvan Solomon Tomkins. [4] In the 1980s, Atwood and collaborator Robert Stolorow brought the concept of intersubjectivity into prominence in the field of psychoanalysis. [5] Their book Faces in a Cloud (1979) was the seminal work from which emerged the influential psychological theory of intersubjectivity. [6] This meta-theory reveals the ways in which the central constructs of personality theories universalize their creators' personal solutions to the crises and dilemmas of their own life histories. In this framework, personality theories are not objective representations of objective truth, but subjective representations of the personalities, experiences and issues of the theorists. Likewise, all interactions must be considered contextually; interactions between patient/analyst or child/parent are not separate from each other, and must be considered as mutually influencing each other. The intersubjective perspective has contributed to a philosophy of psychoanalytic practice known as contextualism. [7]

Atwood is professor emeritus of Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University where he taught for 41 years and received the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award. His major interests have included personality theory, psychotherapy, psychology of knowledge, psychosis, philosophical systems, and complex relationships between madness and creative genius. He is an honorary member of the American Psychoanalytic Association and Founding Faculty Member at the Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity in New York City.

Awards

Selected works

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Spezzano, C. (2012). Textbook of psychoanalysis (2nd ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing. pp. 105–116. ISBN   978-1-58562-410-2.
  2. "Historical and Emeritus Faculty". Rutgers Department of Psychology. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  3. "History". The Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity (IPSS). Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  4. "Episode 24: Shattered Worlds, the Experience of Personal Annihilation". Mad in America: Science, Psychiatry, and Social Justice.
  5. Akhtar, Salman (2009). Comprehensive Dictionary Of Psychoanalysis. Karnac Books. p. 152.
  6. Spezzano, C. (2012). Textbook of psychoanalysis (2nd ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing. pp. 105–116. ISBN   978-1-58562-410-2.
  7. Skelton, Ross (Ed.) (2006). The Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis. Edinburgh University Press.