Desire, Pain and Thought presents a new perspective on primal erotogenic masochism, which Marilia Aisenstein regards as the core of psychoanalytic theory.
Aisenstein distinguishes between pathological masochism - the active search for pain - and primal erotogenic masochism, which she believes develops in early childhood. Desire, Pain and Thought explains that the formation of this response in a child is essential to the survival of the individual and the development of resilience. Aisenstein skilfully and convincingly uses her deep understanding of metapsychology and her mastery of Freud-s seminal papers to demonstrate that thought is one of the manifestations of desire which implies a painful renunciation of the object of desire. By moving away from its pathological, negative connotation to a more positive one, the book presents an understanding of masochism as -the guardian of life-.
Desire, Pain and Thought will be essential reading for psych
