Psychoanalysis and the Struggle for Love

In Psychoanalysis and the Struggle for Love, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Mark Kinet brings together decades of clinical experience, theoretical insight, and cultural curiosity to explore love in all its forms: tender and erotic, destructive and restorative, ancient and digital.

Moving effortlessly between the works of Freud, Lacan, Klein, Winnicott, Balint, Bion, and contemporary neuropsychoanalysis, Kinet reveals how love shapes the psyche from infancy to adulthood, from the consulting room to the wider culture. Across a series of vivid chapters, ranging from early trauma to desire, perversion, seduction, idealisation, digital intimacy, and the healing potential of the analytic setting, this book offers a panoramic portrait of the human need for connection. Kinet combines rigorous clinical thinking with literary and philosophical depth, while offering a clear and compassionate account of why love matters and why it so often goes awry. A compelling exploration of the human heart and the forces that bind us to one another, this is psychoanalysis written with depth, clarity and warmth.

Written in Kinet’s signature engaging and accessible style, this is a vital book for clinicians, readers of mind and culture, and anyone fascinated by the fragile and untidy beauty of love.