A Brief Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory

This updated edition explores the birth of psychoanalysis alongside fundamental psychoanalytic concepts. It discusses the different schools of thought that have emerged since Freud, and looks at the theory's wider application across film, literature and politics.

Stephen Frosh is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, an Academic Associate of the British Psychoanalytical Society, a Founding Member of the Association of Psychosocial Studies, and an Honorary Member of the Institute of Group Analysis. He is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck, University of London, UK, and was a Visiting Professor at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. He is the author of over 20 books on psychosocial studies and psychoanalysis, including A Brief Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory; Psychoanalysis Outside the Clinic; The Politics of Psychoanalysis; Hate and the Jewish Science: Anti-Semitism, Nazism and Psychoanalysis; Hauntings; Those Who Come After: Postmemory, Acknowledgement and Forgiveness and most recently, Antisemitism and Racism: Ethical Challenges for Psychoanalysis, published by Bloomsbury in 2023. He is co-editor of the Palgrave Handbook of Psychosocial Studies and the Routledge International Handbook of Psychoanalysis and Jewish Studies. His most recent book is How to be Real: A Survival Guide in Challenging Times.