On Freud’s Splitting of the Ego in the Process of Defence

This book includes the development of the concept of splitting from both metapsychological and clinical perspectives, emphasizing the great importance of this topic for contemporary psychoanalysis. Starting with the history of the concept, the book covers recent French, English and Latin American theorizations on the theme. In regard to clinical approaches it presents the relationship between the splitting and complex clinical cases such as borderline, perverse and psychosomatic conditions. The book also includes aspects of splitting and virtual reality, as well as in traumatic situations: factors so important in contemporary life. The premise behind this work was to invite authors from different regions and orientations to promote a fruitful debate on the theme, thus enriching one of Sigmund Freud’s most seminal concepts.