Analyzing Defenses or the First Glimmer of Development?

Abstract

This paper examines some elements of the psychoanalytic setting that have been reevaluated in recent years and have acquired new meanings. The basic functions that support the analysand’s self are now more clear, functions that are put to use in the facilitation of maturation and development of both the child and the adult. The detailed description of clinical work with a patient over one year demonstrates various transformations that were followed both in the patient and in the psychoanalytic relationship—to the point of the formation of more structured awareness for the analysand, of his improved capacity for symbolization and, therefore, of a more fluid dialogue between analysand and analyst. In particular, the function fulfilled by the analyst is examined—the function, that is, of gathering expectations, hopes, and potentialities, more than the analysand’s defensive maneuvers, a function aimed at warding off possible retraumatizations. In the last part of the paper, a map of the analytic journey is outlined and compared with the results of imaginatively reconstructing an alternative journey, observing the same clinical facts from another theoretical perspective.