Transformational processes and the analytical field: A new paradigm for models and clinical practices

Abstract

ObjectiveIn this work we propose a synthesis concerning the notions of transformation and field and their influence on the practices and models of the contemporary clinical approach. MethodAfter describing the use of the notion of transformation by Bion, we describe the development of this notion in the post-Bionian movement (Grotstein, Ogden, Ferro, and Civitarese in particular) as well as its association with the concept of field. We describe the origins of this notion by way of the first writings on this subject by Madeleine and Willy Baranger. ResultsThe concepts of transformation and field are particularly useful in clinical practice. They promote the emergence of a state of reverie which allows the transformation and the integration of traumatic experiences that generate different forms of psychopathology. DiscussionThese theoretical evolutions also translate into an evolution in clinical psychoanalytic practice, within a paradigm that places the emphasis on dreams, emotions, the contact with O, the present moment of the therapy, the negative capability, vertices, and a tolerance of doubt, all with the goal of catalyzing the processes of psychic transformation. ConclusionThese notions contribute to an aesthetic paradigm that promotes the emergence of the process of subjectivation. The approach also shows the limits of the “scientist-practitioner” model, whose procedural and manifest logics are liable to hinder the symbologenic potential of the subject. On the contrary, there is a need to accompany creativity and originality in each encounter on an analytic stage conceptualized as a potential space for dreaming and play.