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THE PALGRAVE LACAN SERIES
SERIES EDITORS: CALUM NEILL · DEREK HOOK
Psychosis and
Extreme States
An Ethic for Treatment
bret fimiani
The Palgrave Lacan Series
Series Editors
Calum Neill
Edinburgh Napier University
Edinburgh, UK
Derek Hook
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, USA
Jacques Lacan is one of the most important and influential thinkers of
the 20th century. The reach of this influence continues to grow as we
settle into the 21st century, the resonance of Lacan’s thought arguably
only beginning now to be properly felt, both in terms of its application
to clinical matters and in its application to a range of human activities
and interests. The Palgrave Lacan Series is a book series for the best new
writing in the Lacanian field, giving voice to the leading writers of a new
generation of Lacanian thought. The series will comprise original mono-
graphs and thematic, multi-authored collections. The books in the series
will explore aspects of Lacan’s theory from new perspectives and with
original insights. There will be books focused on particular areas of or
issues in clinical work. There will be books focused on applying Lacanian
theory to areas and issues beyond the clinic, to matters of society, politics,
the arts and culture. Each book, whatever its particular concern, will
work to expand our understanding of Lacan’s theory and its value in the
21st century.
Psychosis and
Extreme States
An Ethic for Treatment
Bret Fimiani
The San Francisco Bay Area Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis
Berkeley, CA, USA
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2021
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
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The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
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for Hailey
Foreword
the package of his chapters and began to read. The chapter titles alone
intrigued me. Introducing his book with “The Psychotic as Guide”, Bret’s
writing, I could see immediately, drew from his incisive questions, his
layered readings of Lacan and beyond Lacan, and his detailed renderings
from the clinic of his practice. He seemed to be orienting his readers with
a compass whose north star was the experience of psychosis, and its direc-
tions the body, knowledge, and ethics of the psychotic as subject.
While the “medical world” is interested primarily in eliminating psy-
chotic symptoms, and many doctors as well as other professionals appear
frightened of the strangeness of psychosis, Bret’s book shows us a way to
actually listen to psychotic speech. Listening well makes it possible to
move beyond fear, to build a credible address for people experiencing
psychosis, and to discover a way to accompany them into a new trajectory
of hope.
Drawing on the clinic, philosophy, psychoanalysis, the Hearing Voices
Network, and his extensive interviews with colleagues working in the
area of psychosis (including with me), Bret questions orthodoxies and
received knowledge (in psychiatry, psychology, and psychoanalysis) to
forge a creative, ethical, and courageous treatment of psychosis. It is a
book that is very much needed in our time, needed in the way of a deep
drink of cold well water after a long time of thirst, needed as if one were
dying of thirst in fact, and had been offered some tepid, poisoned liquid
in lieu of water for years. It is a guide for clinicians, especially for analysts,
but also for anyone interested in psychosis as a singular, enigmatic, terri-
fying experience, an experience sometimes beyond words.
Finally, I thank my wife Hailey and our sons August and Miles for
their support during the completion of this book. Hailey knew that I
could write this book before I did. I wrote a large part of this book during
the 2020–2021 Covid-19 pandemic and, like so many others, my family
and I were living in close quarters around the clock, overseeing distance
learning, and carrying out our professional responsibilities all under one
roof. I thank my family for making adjustments to their own routines to
allow me the space and time to write, for their enthusiasm for this proj-
ect, and for showing me constant encouragement during the writing
process.
Contents
xiii
xiv Contents
Index221
Name Index223
Subject Index225
About the Author
xix
List of Figures
xxi
1
Introduction: The Psychotic as Guide
1
My thesis regarding ‘ethics in psychosis’ follows, in a particular way, Jacques Lacan’s exploration of
the problem of ethics (1993) in psychoanalysis in The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book VII The Ethics
of Psychoanalysis 1959–1960. I provide a brief initial elaboration of the term “ethics” (and its clini-
cal implications) in this Introduction. I fully define and elaborate the question of ‘ethics’ in Chap. 6.