Semantic Polarities and Psychopathologies in the Family

The gap between psychotherapeutic practice and clinical theory is ever widening. Therapists still don't know what role interpersonal relations play in the development of the most common psychopathologies. Valeria Ugazio bridges this gap by examining phobias, obsessive-compulsions, eating disorders, and depression in the context of the family, using an intersubjective approach to personality. Her concept of "semantic polarities" gives a groundbreaking perspective to the construction of meaning in the family and other interpersonal contexts. At no point is theory left in the wasteland of abstraction. The concreteness of the many case studies recounted, and examples taken from well-known novels, will allow readers to immediately connect the topics discussed with their own experience.

Valeria Ugazio, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology and Coordinator of the Clinical Psychology Doctorate program at the University of Bergamo, Italy, and the Scientific Director of the European Institute of Systemic-relational Therapies.

Introduction 1. The Construction of Psychopathological Disorders in Intersubjective Contexts Part 1: The Model 2. Family Semantic Polarities Part II: Semantics and Psychopathologies 3. Semantics of Freedom and Phobic Disorders 4. Between Good and Evil: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders 5. The Semantic of Power: Anorexia, Bulimia, and Other Eating Problems 6. Depression: Denied Belonging Part III: Conclusion: Therapeutic Perspectives 7. Family Semantics and the Therapeutic Relationship