Phénomènes d’allure télépathique dans la relation thérapeutique avec des patients schizophrènes : hypothèse d’une potentielle nocivité de la pensée soignante

Abstract

Telepathic phenomena within the transference relationship with psychotic patients are regularly described by many authors, well-known serious psychoanalysts; many examples will be proposed. Telepathy was a noted subject of scientific studies between the end of the 19 and the beginning of the 20-century. Many examples got from the author's clinical experience will show that in the frame of a long-term therapy with psychotic patients, some telepathic-like phenomena can occur. We propose to name “telepathic identification” such moments when the therapist stops to pay attention to his patient's speech, monopolized by a sudden concern, and when the patient begin to talk about this very concern as if it was one of his own. Many explanatory hypotheses will be developed. The author emphasizes also the possible iatrogenical influence of the therapist's mental objects, as well his concerns as his theoretical models. At last, the hypothesis of a “telepathic identification” is considered as a manner to avoid being abandoned by the therapist, a mechanism, which originates in the early mother-infant interactions.