Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the concept of existential psychoanalysis by situating it at the interface between the existential philosophical tradition and postmodernism. It describes developments in post-Jungian thought. Building on disillusionment with an over-reliance on archetypes to explain social and political phenomena in the psyche of individuals and groups, an innovative renovation of traditional Jungian theory emerged. The book reviews research on the self-medication hypothesis of addictive disorders. The self-medication hypothesis is a psychoanalytic model of addictions and discusses that most people who develop an addiction do so in response to early childhood traumas. The book explores the clinical horizons of technology in psychoanalytic treatment. Innovation in psychoanalysis and technology moves beyond the empty seductions of technologically mediated remote treatments.