The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Aug 1, 2002
This panel addressed issues faced by psychoanalysis, and by psychoanalysts representing it, acros... more This panel addressed issues faced by psychoanalysis, and by psychoanalysts representing it, across different interfaces. This decidedly important area has not always received its fair share of attention in psychoanalytic discourse. In his opening remarks, Claudio Eizirik attributed this to the developmental decades in which psychoanalysis favoured internal growth and clinical re nement at the expense of dialogue with other areas. This has shifted recently towards greater exchange and contact with ‘the outside world’. There is growing dialogue with a number of neighbouring disciplines and with the culture at large. There is even room for hope with regard to medicine and psychiatry, promoted by the renewed interest in neuroscience. The IPA’s Committee on Psychoanalysis and Society (CPS), established in 1997, has studied, consulted and contributed to interfaces with other areas. Members of this panel, all former CPS co-chairs in their respective continents, are actively involved and currently knowledgeable. Ricardo Bernardi tackled the relationship between a ‘core’ and its ‘border’. The outer world is always present with the patient on the couch, and in the analytic sensitivity to the relationship between inner and outer worlds. These relationships can be elaborated along several dynamic borders. The rst is the professional, in which psychoanalysis faces dilemmas vis-à-vis other professions. We need to de ne our academic and professional identity, which impacts on what separates as well as connects us with other academic and professional communities. The second dynamic boundary is culture. The dissemination of psychoanalytic ideas has been accompanied by their trivialisation. Psychoanalytic ideas have been embedded in many intellectual elds. Bernardi advocates dialogue with the intellectual community that stems from dialogue with our own philosophical and ideological underpinnings. Unacknowledged assumptions of this nature are at the root of many clinical and theoretical debates and disagreements. He suggested that dealing with these ‘inner boundaries’ will enhance dialogue at the external boundaries where such philosophical and ideological issues are encountered. Such internal debate will also foster the growth and maturity of our eld. We must come to grips with the extent of the applicability of extraneously derived models (for example, Nietzschean thought, pragmatism, postmodernism, semiotics) within our own discipline. This dif cult dual confrontation between clinical facts and philosophical assumptions will be much easier if, instead of isolation, we manage to evolve a culture of open debate, of greater heuristic value and ideational freedom.
Psychoanalytic views of reality and fantasy are contingent upon a theory of ego/mind: A mental-ap... more Psychoanalytic views of reality and fantasy are contingent upon a theory of ego/mind: A mental-apparatus-objective approach is distinguishable from an experiential-subjective approach. These two views are highly correlated with Being and Doing as underlying modalities of processing experience. Adolescent development necessitates the integration and amalgamation of these two modalities, which are reflected in relating to reality as objective and separate from, or as merged and fused with, the ego, with corresponding fantasy contents and ego states. As social reality exists as an independent variable, it poses real problems for such crucial aspects of adolescence as identity formation, psychosocial moratorium, and the generational gap.
The centrality of boundaries to the adolescent experience is reviewed from a variety of perspecti... more The centrality of boundaries to the adolescent experience is reviewed from a variety of perspectives, such as the development and consolidation of the self, superego internalization and authority, and the encounter between self and other. The study of boundaries through the experiential modes of Being and Doing leads to distinguishing two kinds of boundary experiences, one requiring separation and differentiation, the other leading to merger and fusion. Adolescence entails the integration of these two modalities so that identity formation and intimacy can take place. The implications for treatment are discussed and illustrated with a clinical vignette.
Psychotherapy, when approached and practiced from a psychodynamic point of view, often gives the ... more Psychotherapy, when approached and practiced from a psychodynamic point of view, often gives the impression of resting on conceptual structures that, to some degree, seem circularly defined. Most of the concepts are interlocking and involve the definition of other related concepts. That is certainly the case with such concepts as transference, repetition compulsion, defense, ego function, fixation and regression, and many more. With the possible exception of transference, however, there is hardly a concept that overlaps and partakes of so many other definitions as that of resistance. There is little doubt that without this term and the clinical phenomena it represents, the practice of psychodynamic, psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy, as well as psychoanalysis proper, could hardly be envisioned. Indeed, it was the very discovery of this phenomenon, particularly in its transference form, that led Freud to the first dynamic reformulation of his views, and eventually to the development of such concepts as censorship, ego defense, the boundaries among the Unconscious, Preconscious, and Conscious, and ultimately the entire structural point of view. One can thus rewrite the entire history of the development of psychoanalytic theory from the vantage point of the theory of resistance.
The application of family therapy to families with psychotic patients involves both technical and... more The application of family therapy to families with psychotic patients involves both technical and theoretic observations and underpinnings. The implications of these for the understanding of certain family dynamics and the use of family therapy in general are investigated. The rhythm of real participation and observation on the therapist's part and the utilization of co-therapists is contrasted with a more authoritarian, 'director' model of intervention. Tendencies in these families towards frozenness and immobility, as well as splitting and chaos, must be counteracted, and are reflected in interactions and transactions between co-therapists. The importance of unravelling these patterns and aiding therapists in the framework of a specially designed, ongoing supervisory seminary is stressed.
Adolescents are simultaneously subject to extremely divergent feelings of strength and of weaknes... more Adolescents are simultaneously subject to extremely divergent feelings of strength and of weakness and dependency, aggravated by intense regressive longings. In order to tolerate and master these feelings, adolescents commonly employ the defense of denial. This may result in splitting. A case except shows how such a defensive strategy may hinder or further psychic development.
The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Aug 1, 2002
This panel addressed issues faced by psychoanalysis, and by psychoanalysts representing it, acros... more This panel addressed issues faced by psychoanalysis, and by psychoanalysts representing it, across different interfaces. This decidedly important area has not always received its fair share of attention in psychoanalytic discourse. In his opening remarks, Claudio Eizirik attributed this to the developmental decades in which psychoanalysis favoured internal growth and clinical re nement at the expense of dialogue with other areas. This has shifted recently towards greater exchange and contact with ‘the outside world’. There is growing dialogue with a number of neighbouring disciplines and with the culture at large. There is even room for hope with regard to medicine and psychiatry, promoted by the renewed interest in neuroscience. The IPA’s Committee on Psychoanalysis and Society (CPS), established in 1997, has studied, consulted and contributed to interfaces with other areas. Members of this panel, all former CPS co-chairs in their respective continents, are actively involved and currently knowledgeable. Ricardo Bernardi tackled the relationship between a ‘core’ and its ‘border’. The outer world is always present with the patient on the couch, and in the analytic sensitivity to the relationship between inner and outer worlds. These relationships can be elaborated along several dynamic borders. The rst is the professional, in which psychoanalysis faces dilemmas vis-à-vis other professions. We need to de ne our academic and professional identity, which impacts on what separates as well as connects us with other academic and professional communities. The second dynamic boundary is culture. The dissemination of psychoanalytic ideas has been accompanied by their trivialisation. Psychoanalytic ideas have been embedded in many intellectual elds. Bernardi advocates dialogue with the intellectual community that stems from dialogue with our own philosophical and ideological underpinnings. Unacknowledged assumptions of this nature are at the root of many clinical and theoretical debates and disagreements. He suggested that dealing with these ‘inner boundaries’ will enhance dialogue at the external boundaries where such philosophical and ideological issues are encountered. Such internal debate will also foster the growth and maturity of our eld. We must come to grips with the extent of the applicability of extraneously derived models (for example, Nietzschean thought, pragmatism, postmodernism, semiotics) within our own discipline. This dif cult dual confrontation between clinical facts and philosophical assumptions will be much easier if, instead of isolation, we manage to evolve a culture of open debate, of greater heuristic value and ideational freedom.
Psychoanalytic views of reality and fantasy are contingent upon a theory of ego/mind: A mental-ap... more Psychoanalytic views of reality and fantasy are contingent upon a theory of ego/mind: A mental-apparatus-objective approach is distinguishable from an experiential-subjective approach. These two views are highly correlated with Being and Doing as underlying modalities of processing experience. Adolescent development necessitates the integration and amalgamation of these two modalities, which are reflected in relating to reality as objective and separate from, or as merged and fused with, the ego, with corresponding fantasy contents and ego states. As social reality exists as an independent variable, it poses real problems for such crucial aspects of adolescence as identity formation, psychosocial moratorium, and the generational gap.
The centrality of boundaries to the adolescent experience is reviewed from a variety of perspecti... more The centrality of boundaries to the adolescent experience is reviewed from a variety of perspectives, such as the development and consolidation of the self, superego internalization and authority, and the encounter between self and other. The study of boundaries through the experiential modes of Being and Doing leads to distinguishing two kinds of boundary experiences, one requiring separation and differentiation, the other leading to merger and fusion. Adolescence entails the integration of these two modalities so that identity formation and intimacy can take place. The implications for treatment are discussed and illustrated with a clinical vignette.
Psychotherapy, when approached and practiced from a psychodynamic point of view, often gives the ... more Psychotherapy, when approached and practiced from a psychodynamic point of view, often gives the impression of resting on conceptual structures that, to some degree, seem circularly defined. Most of the concepts are interlocking and involve the definition of other related concepts. That is certainly the case with such concepts as transference, repetition compulsion, defense, ego function, fixation and regression, and many more. With the possible exception of transference, however, there is hardly a concept that overlaps and partakes of so many other definitions as that of resistance. There is little doubt that without this term and the clinical phenomena it represents, the practice of psychodynamic, psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy, as well as psychoanalysis proper, could hardly be envisioned. Indeed, it was the very discovery of this phenomenon, particularly in its transference form, that led Freud to the first dynamic reformulation of his views, and eventually to the development of such concepts as censorship, ego defense, the boundaries among the Unconscious, Preconscious, and Conscious, and ultimately the entire structural point of view. One can thus rewrite the entire history of the development of psychoanalytic theory from the vantage point of the theory of resistance.
The application of family therapy to families with psychotic patients involves both technical and... more The application of family therapy to families with psychotic patients involves both technical and theoretic observations and underpinnings. The implications of these for the understanding of certain family dynamics and the use of family therapy in general are investigated. The rhythm of real participation and observation on the therapist's part and the utilization of co-therapists is contrasted with a more authoritarian, 'director' model of intervention. Tendencies in these families towards frozenness and immobility, as well as splitting and chaos, must be counteracted, and are reflected in interactions and transactions between co-therapists. The importance of unravelling these patterns and aiding therapists in the framework of a specially designed, ongoing supervisory seminary is stressed.
Adolescents are simultaneously subject to extremely divergent feelings of strength and of weaknes... more Adolescents are simultaneously subject to extremely divergent feelings of strength and of weakness and dependency, aggravated by intense regressive longings. In order to tolerate and master these feelings, adolescents commonly employ the defense of denial. This may result in splitting. A case except shows how such a defensive strategy may hinder or further psychic development.
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