The paternal function is one of the most embedded concepts both in the singular dimension of clinical thinking and in the extended of social functioning. It underlies, for example, one of the foundational elements of the psychoanalytic method: the very idea of “Analytic Setting” could not exist without a paternal function.

In today's episode, thanks to the work of Michael J Diamond, we will explore its many aspects, including the construction of a triangular space, the role of the Third in the internal functioning of the subject, and the question of limits. We will also delve into more specific characteristics, such as the tenderness and sensory intimacy between a little boy and his father. We might say that this podcast episode is like a "child" of Michael J Diamond’s recent book published by Routledge and entitled: "Masculinity and Its Discontents”, in which he studies, as the subtitle says: “The Male Psyche and the Inherent Tensions of Maturing Manhood”.

Link to download the paper https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QfcWssRszuStn90QjrWXh7YvvDfGCw3A/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112457875385152358388&rtpof=true&sd=true

Michael J. Diamond, PhD, FIPA is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies. His major publications are on psychoanalytic technique and analytic mindedness; masculinity, femininity, and gender theory; fathering and the paternal function; trauma and dissociation; hypnosis and altered states; and group processes and social action. He has written five books including today’s featured book on Masculinity and Its Discontents: The Male Psyche and the Inherent Tensions of Maturing Manhood published by Routledge. His most recent book on applied psychoanalysis, Ruptures in the American Psyche: Containing Destructive Populism in Perilous Times, was just published (by Phoenix Publishing). His other major books include My Father Before Me: How Fathers and Sons Influence Each Other Throughout Their Lives and an edited book on The Second Century of Psychoanalysis: Evolving Perspectives on Therapeutic Action (with Chris Christian). He is the honored recipient of numerous awards for his teaching, writing, and clinical contributions, and has a full-time clinical practice in Los Angeles, California where he remains active in teaching, supervising, and writing.

Selected Recommended Readings for Michael J. Diamond’s Podcast

Blos, P. (1985). Son and Father: Before and Beyond the Oedipus Complex. New York: Free Press.

Corbett, K. (2009). Boyhoods: Rethinking Masculinities. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Diamond, M. J. (2004). The shaping of masculinity: revisioning boys turning away from their mothers to construct male gender identity. Int. J. Psychoanal., 85:359–380.

Diamond, M. J. (2006). Masculinity unraveled: the roots of male gender identity and the shifting of male ego ideals throughout life. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 54:1099–1130.

Diamond, M. J. (2007). My Father Before Me: How Fathers and Sons Influence Each Other Throughout Their Lives. New York: Norton.

Diamond, M. J. (2015). The elusiveness of masculinity: primordial vulnerability, lack, and the challenges of male development. Psychoanal. Q., 84:47–102.

Diamond, M. J. (2017). The missing father function in psychoanalytic theory and technique: the analyst’s internal couple and maturing intimacy. Psychoanal. Q., 86:861–887.

Diamond, M. J. (2020). The elusiveness of “the feminine” in the male analyst: living in yet not being of the binary. Psychoanal. Q.,89:503–526.

Diamond, M. J. (2021). Masculinity and Its Discontents: The Male Psyche and the Inherent Tensions of Maturing Manhood. London: Routledge.

Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. S. E., 7:130–243.

Friedman, R. C. & Downey, J. L. (2008). Sexual differentiation of behavior: the foundation of a developmental model of psychosexuality. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 56:147–175.

Glasser, M. (1985). The “weak spot”—some observations on male sexuality. Int. J. Psychoanal., 66:405–414.

Laplanche, J. (1997). The theory of seduction and the problem of the other. Int. J. Psychoanal., 78:653–666.

Lax, R. F. (1997). Boys’ envy of mother and the consequences of this narcissistic mortification. Psychoanal. Study Child, 52:118–139.

Moss, D. (2012). Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Man: Psychoanalysis and Masculinity. London: Routledge.

Stoller, R. J. (1985). Presentations of Gender. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

This Podcast Series, published by the International Psychoanalytical Association, is part of the activities of the IPA Communication Committee and is produced by the IPA Podcast Editorial Team. Head of the Podcast Editorial Team: Gaetano Pellegrini. Editing and Post-Production: Massimiliano Guerrieri.

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