Courageous leaps: Discussion of Heather MacIntosh’s paper “Practicing in a time of covid loss and threat”

Abstract

ABSTRACT Heather MacIntosh’s emotionally moving paper describes an intense relation with a patient at a time when Heather herself was traumatized. This analyst-patient relationship inspired Heather to make essential changes in her lifestyle. These changes were curative for both the analyst and the patient. The discussion highlights three main issues. The first is leaps from the analytic frame, Different forms of leaps, starting with those defined by Freud and continuing with current analysts, demonstrate various modifications of the frame. The second issue is the question of who is responsible for the transformation of trauma. When the analyst remains faithful to her ideals, she can be inspired by a vast range of idealized selfobjects, human and nonhuman. The perception of an idealized selfobject is neither dependent on external conditions nor on actual actions. The patient can then expand her mind in a similar way. The third issue focuses on the expansion of the scope of selfobject experiences in times of turbulence and stress. We may consider that in such times the mind can be inspired by the selfobject function of nature, art, imagination and virtual possibilities. In our times, universality and interconnectedness fulfill a major role in informing our lives. Our minds are constituted by a global ecology that shapes our subjectivity.