Temporality—Variations on a Theme of Hans Loewald: An Introduction to a Relational Panel

Abstract

This paper introduces a panel on temporality in the work of Hans Loewald, presented at an IARPP conference in 2022. The presenters highlight Loewald’s idea that the experience of time shapes our understanding of ourselves and the world. Each author applies Loewald’s notion of temporality to clinical material: Cheryl Goldstein uses the image of a “rift” in our relationship to time in her treatment of a young woman unable to bear the guilt of separating from a depressive mother. Shoulamit Milch Reich and Amir Atsmon present the case of a traumatized young boy unable to integrate, or link, the dimensions of past, present, and future, resulting in fragmentation and psychic collapse. Robin Young and Gila Ofer each explore gender development through a Loewaldian lens in which regressive wishes can safely emerge in treatment and ego development resume. Implicit in these presentations is the seminal influence of Loewald on clinical work and his integrative appeal across psychoanalytic orientations.