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Showing papers in "International Forum of Psychoanalysis in 2012"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a psychoanalyst has argued that conscious mental phenomena (such as feelings) are not epiphenomenal to the workings of the brain and that feelings evolved for good biological reasons; they make specific contributions to brain functioning.
Abstract: As a psychoanalyst, I believe that conscious mental phenomena (such as feelings) are not epiphenomenal to the workings of the brain. Feelings evolved for good biological reasons; they make specific contributions to (unconscious) brain functioning. Notwithstanding all the philosophical complexities, the interactions between consciousness and unconscious brain functions are causal interactions. The tendency of modern neuroscientists (and biological psychiatrists) to marginalise consciousness in relation to how the brain works is likely to lead them badly astray. I illustrate this view by trying to address the question: why does depression feel bad?

36 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest a cosmological analogy to the dynamics of addiction and suggest that, in the same way that a black hole represents a region of space from which matter and energy cannot escape due to the intensity of the gravitational field, addicts appear to collapse intrapsychically into sealed-over states of being.
Abstract: In day-to-day clinical practice, we regularly meet individuals who struggle to endure very painful emotional states and to face these in the here-and-now. The evasion of the pain felt in the present can lead addicts to attempt, through the use of alcohol and other drugs, to collapse their sense of temporal perception. In this paper, I suggest a cosmological analogy to these dynamics of addiction as this may aid in furthering our understanding. It is suggested that, in the same way that a black hole represents a region of space from which matter and energy cannot escape due to the intensity of the gravitational field, addicts appear to collapse intrapsychically into sealed-over states of being. Like the black hole, which only becomes apparent due to the effects it exerts on objects around it, the psychodynamic internal world of the addict emerges forcibly in the therapeutic relationship. In this sense, addictive transference, issuing from the timeless dynamic unconscious described by Freud, can be...

19 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The relationship of Sigmund Freud to Binswanger and Pfister is examined in this article for understanding the historical and contemporary interaction of psychoanalytic theory and practice with other disciplines and diverse viewpoints.
Abstract: This article considers the longstanding disciplinary tensions between psychoanalysis, religion, and philosophy. It argues for a cross-disciplinary understanding of human experience by examining the relationship of Sigmund Freud to his two Swiss colleagues, Ludwig Binswanger and Oskar Pfister. In contrast to Freud's avowed atheism and pronounced ambivalence on philosophy, Binswanger and Pfister both professed a strong religious sensibility and philosophical outlook. The article juxtaposes their theoretical divergences on religion and philosophy with personal interactions and correspondence. The relationship of Freud to Binswanger and Pfister is instructive for understanding the historical and contemporary interaction of psychoanalytic theory and practice with other disciplines and diverse viewpoints. The dialogical spirit that connects the three protagonists constitutes a critical engagement with learning and is essential to psychoanalysis today.

18 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the evolution that has taken place since the beginning of psychoanalysis and that continues into contemporary practice, focusing specifically on the causes and modalities of this evolution and its possible assessment in relation to the teachings of Freud.
Abstract: This text discusses the evolution that has taken place since the beginning of psychoanalysis and that continues into contemporary practice. It focuses specifically on the causes and modalities of this evolution and its possible assessment in relation to the teachings of Freud. Addressed to a consulting patient, early psychoanalysis was constructed around successive discoveries in the research process, and the importance of the analyst's personality for the therapeutic process has been increasingly recognized. Due to the discovery of transference and countertransference, as well as the study of the analyst–analysand pair, current psychoanalytic practice can be described as intersubjective. Contemporary psychoanalysis entails no longer the study of a specific subject, but rather that of the relationship between the two participants and their joint work as a means to deduce and ultimately change the modalities of the analysand. This is a more and more common and widespread treatment model, although ...

11 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors traced the background of the memory disturbance on the Acropolis back to the woman patient who had dreams of gigantic snakes, and suggested that the patient might b...
Abstract: Ferenczi's 1929 claim that “no analysis can be regarded … as complete unless we have succeed in penetrating the traumatic material” resonated deeply in Freud, influencing his last works. According to the author, it reactivated in Freud the same traumatic memories that were at the heart of his self-analysis, letting them resurface in the 1936 essay “A disturbance of memory on the Acropolis,” in the striking simile of the Loch Ness monster. The image of “the sea-serpent we've never believed in” is then analyzed and used as a sounding lead for Freud's self-analysis. The transformation of the love-object into an attractive monster, which is found as a recurrent pattern in Freud's life and work, hints at the centrality of the combined figure of woman and serpent in mythology, in psychoanalysis, and in Freud's self-analysis. Finally, the background of the “memory disturbance” on the Acropolis is traced back to the woman patient who had dreams of gigantic snakes. It is suggested that the patient might b...

11 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article set out the conceptual history of countertransference and intersubjectivity in British object relations and attempted to show the different histories that have occurred within British object relation compared with the developments in the post-ego-psychology era in North America.
Abstract: This paper attempts to set out the conceptual history of countertransference and intersubjectivity. I will attempt to show the different histories that have occurred within British object relations compared with the developments in the post-ego-psychology era in North America.

8 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The countertransference process is a sort of theoretical-technical "hinge" between Freud's lines of thought imbued with the features of the modern age, and those trends influenced by postmodern ideas that put forward the opposition between the analyst's "objectivity" and his "subjectivity", casting doubt on any possibility of being objective in our clinical practice as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In her contribution, the author first deals with the general characteristics of the countertransference process and then sets forth her metapsychological hypotheses, which aim to describe the different psychic stages and movements in the analyst's mind during such process. This exploration intends to encompass its intrapsychic, interpsychic, intersubjective, and objective aspects. Her proposal aims to fulfill a twofold purpose. First is to place the countertransference process as a sort of theoretical-technical “hinge” between Freud's lines of thought imbued with the features of the modern age, and those trends influenced by postmodern ideas that put forward the opposition between the analyst's “objectivity” and his “subjectivity,” casting doubt on any possibility of being objective in our clinical practice. Her second aim is to appeal to the “witch metapsychology” and go deeper into the understanding and description of the constituent psychical movements of the process mentioned. In this case, c...

8 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The concept of neural plasticity was introduced by as discussed by the authors as an ongoing mobilization of neural form in the brain, which has profound implications for neuroscience, psychoanalysis, and their interrelationship.
Abstract: Contemporary neuroscience has demonstrated the radical plasticity of the brain – its ability to change with experience at the synaptic, circuitry, and whole-brain levels – which has profound implications for neuroscience, psychoanalysis, and their interrelationship. With the concept of neural plasticity as an ongoing mobilization of neural form, neuroscience converges with psychoanalysis, which has built its theory and therapeutic practice on the flow of forms in the unconscious. We have attempted to integrate evidence and ideas from contemporary neurobiology, neurophysiology, psychopharmacology, and post-Freudian psychoanalytic theory, mainly based on Lacan, Bion, and Winnicott, and we suggest that the recovery of form, as a tool of investigation in these fields, may promote a neuroscientifically informed psychotherapy. We also suggest that plasticity captures the primacy of the dynamic, interactive surface of both intrapsychic and intersubjective processes and allows a conceptualization of the ...

6 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a bird's eye view of Ferenczi and otherness is presented, starting from the beginning, with the assumption that Fénczi himself as author represents a symbol of "otherness" in the history of psychoanalysis.
Abstract: This paper presents a bird's eye view – almost a “table of contents” – of “Ferenczi and otherness”, and will do so by first suggesting, right from the beginning, that Ferenczi himself as author represents a symbol of “otherness” in the history of psychoanalysis.

6 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The question of whether psychoanalytic theory should still consider itself a science in the light of contemporary theoretical physics' ever greater dependence on mathematical assertions that have not to date been validated by experimental conformation.
Abstract: Today, much of psychoanalysis has moved beyond Freud, both methodologically and theoretically. I understand Freud to have been always either explicitly or implicitly committed to the view that psychoanalysis is a science, if only at times as an aspirational goal. The question I intend to raise in this article is not whether psychoanalysis is scientific, but rather whether it should still consider itself so in the light of contemporary theoretical physics' ever greater dependence on mathematical assertions that have not to date been validated by experimental conformation. Bestowing the appellation of science to superstring theory, “the theory of everything,” is at present a self-crowing by its adherents taken as a hereditary birthright. I view the relation between psychoanalytic theory and contemporary theoretical physics as a parallelism – a parallelism between approaches to conceptualisation rather than a reduction of disciplines.

5 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A compilation of selected papers presented at the XVI International Forum of Psychoanalysis, a congress of the International Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies (IFPS) held in Athens, Greece, on 20-23 October 2010 is presented in this paper.
Abstract: These special issues of the International Forum of Psychoanalysis are a compilation of selected papers presented at the XVI International Forum of Psychoanalysis, a congress of the International Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies (IFPS) held in Athens, Greece, on 20–23 October 2010. The main subject of the congress was “The Intrapsychic and the Intrasubjective in Contemporary Psychoanalysis”, which is also the title for the special IFP issues. The organizing agent and hosting society of the congress was the Hellenic Society of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (HSPP). A glance at the collected abstracts from the Congress shows just how many papers were presented over those four days. Our selection was made very carefully, in full awareness that many excellent papers would have to be omitted due to constraints of space in the journal. As guest editors we strove to focus our attention more on clinical psychoanalytical texts and texts with an impact on clinical practice, partly because this better represented the climate of the congress and partly because it expresses the orientation of the HSPP, to which we belong. The opinions, sometimes highly original, expressed in the texts are those of the authors, and criticism of the papers is left to the reader. The thinking behind the choice of theme for the congress was that in the dawn of the second century of psychoanalysis it became apparent that diverse theoretical movements had been developed: from impulse gratification to the search for the object, and from “impulse and object” to the interplay of the two subjects; from a narcissistic and object relation towards the search for the true self, in the intrapsychic realm, and to the genuine quest of the other beyond projective and identificatory mechanisms, in the interpersonal realm. Although analysis of the phenomena of the intrapsychic space, e.g. conflicts, pathological object relations, etc., remains the quintessence of psychoanalytic theory and practice, other complementary clinical approaches were proposed alongside the Freudian model. The formulation of the intersubjective epistemological model has broadened the perspective and in this sense underlined a parallel approach to the human subject, looking at the conscious and the unconscious together, at transference and new relationships at the same time. Meanwhile, contemporary neuroscientific advancement in cerebral plasticity and memory systems, based on neuroimaging and other techniques as well as research findings from studies on the development of the early stages of newborns, provided new information that highlighted the importance of the emotional bond between the subject and the significant other (the “objective object”) in the here and now of each stage of child development. These developments had a profound influence on psychoanalytic views of transference and countertransference, the psychoanalytic process, psychoanalytic technique, psychic change, and last but not least on clinical theories of trauma, emotion and psychic reality. The concept of the subject in psychoanalysis belongs to both the intrapsychic and the interpersonal realms. In the sphere of the intrapsychic unconscious, it is distinguished from the unconscious ego/moi/self and the superego; in the interpersonalintersubjective sphere, it develops in relation to the significant Other. In this context, then, the search for the truth and the emphasis on the relationship between analyst and analysand within which the internalised pathological object relations can be transformed facilitate the emergence of the free subject released from the dominance of both the unconscious wish and the shadow of the object. Special reference should be made to two conference events: first, to the interdisciplinary event on “Neurosciences, Psychoanalysis and Medication: Research and Applications”, which took place on the first day of the XVI IFP and, second, to an almost novel element introduced for the second time in the history of the IFPS in the Athens 2010 Forum, as Dr Marco Conci informed us,* namely the Award for the best paper presented by a candidate, the award being its publication in the IFP.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A holistic view of countertransference is open to acknowledg... as mentioned in this paper, where it has been increasingly accepted by the psychoanalytic community that the analyst's response towards the analysand's transference is likely to contain elements that come from the analysts own mental and affective processes.
Abstract: Psychoanalysis today is increasingly turning its sights on narcissistic and borderline states, in which archaic forms of defense predominate and accordingly burden the analytic setting. Mental function suffers, and psychic pain cannot be experienced as a mental emotional experience. As a result, the whole situation tends towards the direction of enactment. In such cases, interpretations are not enough, at least on a primary level. Instead, there should be a possibly lengthy period of containment of this archaic nonverbal communication within the psychic space of the analyst in order give it meaning and subsequently remit it into the potential space between the analyst and the analysand in the analytic setting. It has been increasingly accepted by the psychoanalytic community that the analyst's response towards the analysand's transference is likely to contain elements that come from the analyst's own mental and affective processes. Such a holistic view of countertransference is open to acknowledg...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a historical survey of the psychoanalytical reflection on depression is presented, showing how, after the first works by Freud and Abraham on the topic, it has developed (at least at an implicit level) according to two basic explanatory orientations.
Abstract: Through a historical survey of the psychoanalytical reflection on depression the author shows how, after the first works by Freud and Abraham on the topic, it has developed (at least at an implicit level) according to two basic explanatory orientations. By separative orientation, the therapeutic evolution of depression aims at the substantial abandonment of the investment (already impaired by affective ambivalence) in certain objects, or their internal representatives/derivatives, having high narcissistic value. According to restorative orientation, the overcoming of depression is connected, instead, to the possibility of maintaining or re-establishing that investment, at least at a level of internal derivatives. By referring to one of his clinical treatments, the author underlines the greater significance of the separative orientation, together with the necessity of considering the restorative dimension only as a partial and secondary function of the therapeutic dynamic of depression.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Higher powers than in awake-state gamma-band electrographic activity, which were observed in specific medial prefrontal cortical areas, are proposed to support content in dreaming (REM) and mentation (NREM).
Abstract: Evidence from recent electroencephalographic and magnetoencephalographic sleep studies is reviewed in relation to consciousness and dreams, two fundamental issues in psychoanalytic theory and practice. The rich dynamics of the macro- and microstructure of human sleep indicate specific brain disintegrating mechanisms as underlying the loss and alteration of consciousness in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and REM sleep, respectively. Transient state changes and dynamic interactions between elements of sleep graphoelements (i.e. K-complexes and spindles) are described; these, beyond their involvement in controlling consciousness level, may support the consolidation or modification of therapeutic experiences. Higher powers than in awake-state gamma-band electrographic activity (known to underlie cognitive processes), which we observed in specific medial prefrontal cortical areas, are proposed to support content in dreaming (REM) and mentation (NREM). These areas lie in remarkably close proximity to th...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied a Mexico-United States migratory circuit in which the analysis focuses on the way in which subjectivities and social identities are destructured and reconfigured in a peasant population of indigenous origin that has been forming a transnational community with migrants established in Long Island, New York.
Abstract: The time–space upheavals that characterise so-called globalization have been translated into virtual flows, the flow of objects, and population flows with differentiated impacts within the strata of the population. This paper studies a Mexico–United States migratory circuit in which the analysis focuses on the way in which subjectivities and social identities are destructured and reconfigured in a peasant population of indigenous origin that has been forming a transnational community with migrants established in Long Island, New York. The reconstruction of a structural framework and a transnational culture becomes a substratum that allows for the emergence of new social subjects such as grandmothers, autonomous women, and young people. The psychic dynamics of losses and appropriations, of unresolved ambivalences, interact with the sociostructural processes. The US–Mexico border, a cause of physical, emotional, and symbolic rupture, appears as one of the axes of comprehension for transforming the ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the transformation that leads to the rebirth of the true-unconscious-subject-as-I in the unconscious of the patient's mind is discussed, and it is suggested that the analyst as the Other also functions as an external Subject, who invites the analysand to respond to his discourse/logos as a supposed-to-be Subject and to identify with his symbolic call.
Abstract: The transformations that lead to the rebirth of the true-unconscious-subject-as-I (TUs-as-I) in the unconscious of the patient's mind is discussed. The TUs-as-I is the vehicle and main exponent of self-realization, the basis of the intention for freedom of will, for creative motive, and for the construction of meaning. The unconscious ego is the representative of the TUs-as-I, and in cases where it has been devitalized, the patient's unconscious ego/me is lost, broken, or has become “dead.” It is suggested that, in the analytic situation, apart from serving as an external object available for the patient's unconscious imaginary identification, the analyst as the Other also functions as an external Subject, who invites the analysand to respond to his discourse/logos as a supposed-to-be Subject and to identify with his symbolic call. If the patient accepts the call and responds, transformations of his ego/self structures take place that lead to rebirth of the TUs-as-I, to a regenesis of new ego str...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors follow Bion's, Ogden's and the Barangers' formulations on the intersubjective field of analysis and begin with the hypothesis that, if the analytic situation aspires to mental growth and not just to insight, the new relationship becomes of particular importance.
Abstract: The author follows Bion's, Ogden's and the Barangers’ formulations on the intersubjective field of analysis and begins with the hypothesis that, if the analytic situation aspires to mental growth and not just to insight, the new relationship becomes of particular importance. He presents the clinical case of a patient whose archaic relationship was experienced as a rather depriving one. The initial phase of analysis had periods of incomprehension but allowed for a certain degree of interpretive work. In the second phase, it seemed that the intersubjective relationship and interaction created a “field” towards growth.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The work of several investigators indicates that, through the mechanisms of brain plasticity, an unconscious internal reality can be formed that probably plays a key role in the determination of the subject.
Abstract: The recent developments in brain science research suggest that terms such as “consciousness” or “unconscious” can be discussed not only on a psychological or psychoanalytic basis, but also on a neurobiological one. The work of several investigators indicates that, through the mechanisms of brain plasticity, an unconscious internal reality can be formed that probably plays a key role in the determination of the subject. The functions of the amygdala can be a good example for visualizing this type of mechanism. Mirror neurons may also play a key role in human development during the prelinguistic stages of life.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the role and meaning attributed to the concept of "work" by an analysis of Freud's cultural writings is discussed, and it is concluded that there are important deficiencies in Freudian theorization about this topic which have led to the naturalization of man and society and, as a result, to an ahistorical view of social processes.
Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to consider the role and the meaning attributed to the concept of “work” by an analysis of Freud's cultural writings. It concludes that there are important deficiencies in Freudian theorization about this topic which have led to the naturalization of man and society and, as a result, to an ahistorical view of social processes. These deficiencies have been frequently pointed out in the criticism made of Freud's work.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that psychosis might have the following positive and compensating functions: a satisfaction of urgent needs and a realization of urgent goal settings that previously appeared unattainable.
Abstract: The healing dynamics of psychosis are examined in this article. It is concluded that psychosis might have the following positive and compensating functions: a satisfaction of urgent needs and a realization of urgent goal settings that previously appeared unattainable; the avoidance of and coping with unbearable reality, harmful influences and stress, and/or trauma; the upgrading of social-emotional and cognitive capacities/awareness and effectiveness; the enhancement of self-realization and authenticity; and intrapsychic maturation. The therapeutic implications of these findings are also discussed; in addition, an outline for integrative theory of constructive functions in psychosis and a clinical vignette are presented.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the applicability of the psychoanalytic perspective in current society and in contemporary organizations is examined, showing that Freud's work remains as ever present and relevant.
Abstract: Although Freud's theory was born from an observation of individual phenomena and psychological suffering, Freud did not fail to relate and apply it to culture, to the social, and even to the arts and religion. In many of his texts, he dealt with social issues from the psychoanalytic viewpoint. Reviewing these texts and Freud's theories, this paper intends to show evidence of the applicability of the psychoanalytic perspective in current society and in contemporary organizations. In other words, Freud's work remains as ever present and relevant.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There is a particular statement attributed to Freud (although it cannot be precisely quoted) that what one can expect from a complete analysis could be a certain victory over the impediment to complete analysis as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: There is a particular statement attributed to Freud (although it cannot be precisely quoted) – that what one can expect from a complete analysis could be a certain victory over the impediment to lo...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose that the differentiation of the analyst is the necessary precondition for the subsequent differentiation of an analysand, which can provide shelter from the psychic pain of mourning the loss of the other, but can also hinder development and creativity.
Abstract: The psychoanalytic encounter (Begegnung) is the starting point of the analyst's and analysand's journey. For this journey to be productive, it is necessary for the analyst to be able to identify with the analysand, thus being able to feel and understand what he or she feels. Both analyst and analysand contribute to this mostly unconscious identification. Sometimes, however, a merging relationship can be created as a result of traumatic traces and unresolved transference conflicts in the mind of the analyst. This merging, excluding any “third” between the analyst and the analysand, can provide shelter from the psychic pain of mourning the loss of the other, but can also hinder development and creativity. This is when the working-through of the analyst's countertransference can allow the analytic thought to be the “third” and the merging relationship to be interrupted. The differentiation of the analyst is the necessary precondition for the subsequent differentiation of the analysand. This paper di...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors stress the relevance of deeper conversations between organizational studies and psychoanalysis, as in its extension it will offer significant potential with regard to new gazes and theoretical-methodological approaches that will allow broader visions in regard to the complexity of subject-work-organizations relations.
Abstract: What are the implications of the new management models, which are typical of contemporary organizations, on the subjects who depend on their work for a living? Which are the new symptoms and pathologies that define contemporary organizations? What could psychoanalytical studies contribute towards a greater understanding of the contemporary modes of subject–work–organizations relations? As answers, we should stress the relevance of deeper conversations between organizational studies and psychoanalysis, as in its extension it will offer significant potential with regard to new gazes and theoretical–methodological approaches that will allow broader visions with regard to the multiple facets that characterize the complexity of current of subject–work–organizations relations.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present research into the mother-child relationship according to psychoanalytic theory, based on data from groups of mothers who have children with special needs in the context of their experiences with inclusive education policies.
Abstract: This article presents research into the mother–child relationship according to psychoanalytic theory. It is based on data from groups of mothers who have children with special needs in the context of their experiences with inclusive education policies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that the psychoanalytic situation can be considered as an intersubjective field of interactions (psychoanalytic field) involving both patient and analyst.
Abstract: In this paper, it is argued that the psychoanalytic situation can be considered as an intersubjective field of interactions (psychoanalytic field) involving both patient and analyst. These interactions constantly transform the psychoanalytic field. The dream paradigm of the psychoanalytic session is also discussed. The theoretical arguments are illustrated with clinical vignettes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The passage from passion (passionate subject) to responsibility (responsible subject) is neither automatic nor direct as discussed by the authors, but the child has to gasp his mother's subjectivity in order to responsibly protect it.
Abstract: At the centre of subjectivity lies the interdependence between passion and sense of responsibility. Passion is nourished by misacknowledgment (possessive desire) and acknowledgment (hatred) of the other as a subject at the same time. In the crescendo of this contradiction, the subject discovers that he is the hated subjectivity of the object that makes him alive and desirable. He discovers that he loves the object for the same reason he hates it. He must protect the object of his passionate love if he wants to keep this love alive, and this is when the sense of responsibility for the others is born. The passage from passion (passionate subject) to responsibility (responsible subject) is neither automatic nor direct. The child has to gasp his mother's subjectivity in order to responsibly protect it. What makes this possible is hysterical identification, which is both identification and relation, with her. Hysterical identification allows the child to extend the boundaries of his existence in order...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the traditional psychoanalytic attitude of an objective interpretation of the inner world of the patient is contrasted to the position that is the result of the intersubjective conception of the psychoanalyst process.
Abstract: Psychoanalytical identity is more like a process than a state, reflecting the balance between the self and the expectations of the reference group. But what is the common ground where psychoanalysts can refer to facing changes in psychoanalytic theory and practice, especially in the direction of the intersubjective paradigm? In this paper, the traditional psychoanalytic attitude of an objective interpretation of the inner world of the patient is contrasted to the position that is the result of the intersubjective conception of the psychoanalytic process. The latter assigns the role of a co-player to the analyst. This has far-reaching consequences for the concept of abstinence, which are developed in this paper against a background of a short clinical vignette.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: I thank Willem H. Martens for his very articulate review of the psychoanalytic literature on psychoses, and for the help he gives to each one of us in trying to meet the clinical and therapeutic challenge arising from the authors' psychotic patients.
Abstract: From among the many authors whom Willem H. J. Martens mentions in the first paper of this issue, ‘‘Healing dynamics of psychosis,’’ let me start with H. S. Sullivan (1892 1949), who concluded his very first scientific article, ‘‘Schizophrenia: Its conservative and malignant features’’ (1924; also included in the 1962 anthology Schizophrenia as a human process) with the following words: ‘‘The important conclusion reached in the investigations from which this paper proceeds designates schizophrenia as a series of major mental events always attended by material changes in personality, but in itself implying nothing of deterioration or dementia’’ (1962, pp. 12 13). If Sullivan’s constructive attitude to and successful work with schizophrenic patients represented one of the basic reasons for his critique of Freud (who considered these patients ‘‘incapable of transference’’), and for founding interpersonal psychiatry and psychoanalysis, his pioneering work into the psychological dynamics of schizophrenia must be similarly to Freud’s own work rediscovered by every generation. It is no wonder as I reported in my own book on Sullivan (Conci, 2010) that Ronald D. Laing, reviewing Schizophrenia as a human process in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, had written that ‘‘most of the work that Sullivan’s vision demanded is still not done’’ (1963, p. 378). I therefore thank our Dutch colleague for his very articulate review of the psychoanalytic literature on psychoses, and for the help he gives to each one of us in trying to meet the clinical and therapeutic challenge arising from our psychotic patients. One specific concept of the psychodynamics of schizophrenia which I was particularly happy to find in Professor Martens’ very useful review is Gaetano Benedetti’s and Maurizio Peciccia’s concept of ‘‘the splitting between separate and symbiotic states of the self,’’ which they originally published in this journal (1996) and whose further validation has enabled Dr. Peciccia to contribute to keeping alive the work of the International Society for the Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia (ISPS), the international scientific network started by Benedetti and Christian Müller in 1956. As Benedetti contributed to the life of our Federation and to our journal not only through a whole series of papers, but also through the foundation of the Milan Associazione di Studi Psicoanalitici (an IFPS member society since 1989), so has Dr. Peciccia promoted a panel on the subject of psychosis at the next Forum of Mexico City (October, 10 13, 2012) as he previously did at the Athens Forum of October 2010. If I were to synthesize one of the most important legacies of Gaetano Benedetti (see also Conci, 2008), I would say to our younger colleagues: ‘‘Only if you try to work with schizophrenic patients will you learn to communicate with any kind of patient, that is, will you be able to get in touch with them with your own words and thus find words that touch and cure.’’ A similar challenge is the focus of the next paper in this issue, ‘‘An investigation into the therapeutic dynamic of depressive states,’’ by Giancarlo Ventimiglia. In other words, he not only meets the scientific challenge represented by the ‘‘clash of doctrines’’ specific to this field, experiencing them ‘‘not as a disaster, but as an opportunity’’ (as André Haynal himself had done, following A. N. Whitehead, in his own work on this subject of 1976), but also presents to us a treatment of his own. Through it he tries to demonstrate what he sees as ‘‘the greater significance of the separative orientation,’’ as opposed to what he defines as ‘‘the restorative dimension’’ of our work with depressive patients. As ‘‘depressive affect’’ is as much a part of our work with our patients as is our work on their (conscious and unconscious) anxieties, I thank our Italian colleague for helping us to distinguish between their separative and restorative potentials and thus better meet the clinical and therapeutic challenges of our patients. The third paper of this issue, ‘‘Black holes: Some notes on time, symbolization, and perversion in the psychodynamics of addiction,’’ by Alistair Sweet also follows this same direction. The cosmological analogy proposed by our British colleague, according to which addicts are like black holes, that is, their need to evade pain brings about a collapse of their perception of time and the consequent creation of a sealed-over state of being, allows him not only to illuminate the psychodynamics of addiction, but also to throw new light on the specific ‘‘addictive transference’’ of this challenging group of patients. In this paper, Dr. Sweet not only shares the International Forum of Psychoanalysis. 2012; 21: 65 67

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the pathological vampiric tie between mother and daughter, whose bulimia served to saturate the maternal void left by the traumatic losses, actualizing the illusion of their union through a common erotogenic zone.
Abstract: The nature of the psychopathology of individuals with eating disorders always requires special understanding. In the case presented in this article, the psychodynamics of the patient's bulimia needed to be thought in relation to her mother's anorexia and the transgenerational transmission of her unmourned trauma. The article will focus on the pathological vampiric tie between mother and daughter, whose bulimia served to saturate the maternal void left by the traumatic losses, actualizing the illusion of their union through a common erotogenic zone, the belly. Special emphasis will be given to the powerful phenomena of bodily countertransference experienced by the analyst, who had to contain the patient's massive projections into her own body and to work through the raw inner tensions and sensations in order to create an intermediate space of thinking between them.