New Books in Psychoanalysis Anna Fishzon, "The Impossible Return - Psychoanalytic Reflections on Breast Cancer, Loss, and Mourning" (Routledge, 2025)
Jan 20, 2026
In this engaging discussion, Anna Fishzon, a psychoanalytic clinician and author, delves into her new book, intertwining personal experiences with breast cancer, mourning, and identity. She explores how a reconstructed breast symbolizes uncanny loss and presence. Fishzon also examines the gaps in psychoanalytic literature around cancer existentialism, shame, and maternal relations. Drawing connections to Soviet history, opera, and nonlinear time, she offers profound insights into the complexities of survivorship and the relentless process of mourning.
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The Impossible Return Defined
- The 'impossible return' names a prelapsarian wholeness that reconstruction cannot truly restore.
- Psychoanalysis frames this as an inevitable loss: the object is already always absent and cannot be fully reclaimed.
Jarring Clinical Dismissal
- Fishzon recalls a surgeon dismissing her questions and telling her to 'Just Google it,' which felt jarring amid vulnerability.
- She experienced the hospital as both nurturing and phallic, offering containment while exercising authoritative control.
Communicate A Clear Return Date
- Set a clear return date when you must pause clinical work for illness, and communicate it to avoid patients feeling abandoned.
- If plans change, update patients so they know you considered continuity of care.
