Orthodox Psychoanalysis Research Articles

Reality: its Psychodynamic Perception

In this article, the subject related to reality and its psychodynamic perception is discussed, and at the same time, it is explored from the perspective of orthodox psychoanalysis in objective and subjective realities.

ПРОБЛЕМА РОЗВИТКУ ОБ’ЄКТНИХ ВІДНОСИН В ІДЕЯХ ПСИХОАНАЛІТИКІВ «НЕЗАЛЕЖНОЇ» ГРУПИ

The article reveals the key ideas of psychoanalysts of the «independent» group of the British Psychoanalytic Association. To date, the framework of the modern anthropological system consists of psychoanalytic theories of personality development. In addition to the orthodox (classical) psychoanalysis of S. Freud, individual psychology of A. Adler and analytical psychology of Jung, an important place in the system of psychoanalytic directions is occupied by the theory of object relations - psychoanalytic current, which is based on the idea that as much the satisfaction of internal urges, as Freud argued, as the successful search and establishment of relationships with others. However, in addition to the work of M. Klein and the followers of her scientific and practical school, the creative work of other representatives of British psychoanalysis remains little studied for Ukrainian science. On the basis of the theoretical analysis of literary sources the main principles of psychoanalytic pedagogy within the theory of object relations are revealed. The main features of the theory of object relations, around which the representatives of the «independent» group gathered, have been identified. Emphasis is placed on the common and different views of British psychoanalysts on the formation of the child's personality, as well as criticism of the ideas of classical psychoanalysis. In particular, it is proved that the representatives of the «independent» group departed from the classical Freudian idea of the dominant influence of the Oedipus complex and the rigid «Super Ego» on the formation of personality. It is proved that the representatives of the «independent» group adhered to three common ideas: 1) each person from birth seeks to object relations, rather than to meet needs; 2) the interaction of the newborn with the outside world, especially in the dyad with the mother, has a decisive influence on the evolution of his inner world, which is considered through the prism of introjected inner objects; 3) a person's attitude to external objects is determined by imaginary internal object relations, which were formed in the child's psyche at an early age. It was concluded that the activities of analysts of the «independent» group focused on the problems of interpersonal communication, the child's interaction with parents at an early age, as well as the problems of identification and self-perception. Prospects for further research are planned in revealing the peculiarities of the work of Balint’s groups and the organization of scientific and practical measures for the prevention of pedagogical burnout.

РЕЛИГИЯ КАК КОЛЛЕКТИВНОЕ БЕССОЗНАТЕЛЬНОЕ

The article provides a theoretical justification of the personal and collective unconscious. The influence of archaic archetypes of the unconscious on the religious consciousness of an individual is described. Z. Freud’s orthodox psychoanalysis is compared with the analytical psychology of K.G. Jung. Freud’s works such as "The Future of an Illusion", "Totem and Taboo" and Jung’s books "Essays on the Psychology of the Unconscious", "An Attempt at a Psychological Interpretation of the Dogma of the Trinity", "Psychology and Religion" are considered. The significance of religion contributing to the individuation of personality is analyzed.

Castration Desire: Less Is More in Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go

ABSTRACT According to orthodox psychoanalysis, “castration” is always negative: to lose the “phallus” is to lose everything. Against this account, this article argues that “castration desire” offers a model for sustainable relationality on an imminently eco-apocalyptic earth. Using the novel Never Let Me Go (2005) to explicate castration desire, this article posits that Kazuo Ishiguro's organ-donating clones – in acquiescing to their own diminishment, and thereby signalling a more other-oriented relationality – teach a comparatively privileged reader how to desire castration. This article moreover demonstrates how the less-is-more ethic of castration desire can help theorise the intersection of the environmental humanities and queer studies in order to help unpick the acquisitive logic of a globalised world that otherwise has us on a track to ecological ruin.

Such stuff as dreams are made on: John Bowlby and the interpretation of dreams

ABSTRACT In this paper, newly uncovered archival material from the Bowlby archives is presented on Bowlby’s own dreams and dream interpretation. Although he was critical of orthodox psychoanalysis, Bowlby appears to have been seriously involved in Freudian dream interpretation in the 1930s and 1940s. Here, we present in annotated form his own interpretations of several of his dreams from that time and a series of lectures on dreams. In Attachment and Loss, classic dream interpretation is absent and Bowlby used the content of dreams as a reflection of the influence of real-life experiences on the representations of attachment relations, with a clear focus on grief, loss, and mourning. Bowlby’s shift from psychoanalysis to a more behavioral approach and the introduction of the concept of “defensive exclusion” to supplant Freud’s concept of “repression” may have led him to think about how grief and mourning may affect the content of our dreams.

Mothers reproducing the social: Chodorow and beyond

In The reproduction of mothering, Nancy Chodorow laid the blueprint for understanding mothers and daughters in their intricate psychosexual identification and differentiation. Synthesising object relations theory with feminist sociological concerns regarding gender equality, and the psychosocial reproduction not just of mothering but also of misogyny, Chodorow brought together complex psychoanalytic theory with feminist utopian projects. The mother–daughter relationship had been hitherto dismissed in orthodox psychoanalysis as irrelevant to the central Oedipal drama. In situating mother–daughter relations both within the classic ‘family romance’, and also prior to and constitutive of it, Chodorow bequeathed a critically important legacy. She provided a new psychological language for understanding female subjectivity, inclusive of yet differentiating the mother’s and the daughter’s subjectivity. This article reviews Chodorow’s classic work, The reproduction of mothering, while also extending her original formulation to a contemporary understanding of changing gendered social relations. Drawing on the recent work of Alison Stone, I elucidate the process of not only reproducing but also reinventing mothering. From here, I tentatively explore how mothers are symbolically and actually ‘reproducing the social’; or, taking their maternal identities into civil society and transforming that society to incorporate and reflect their interests. Citizen mothers, I argue, have the potential to transform human relations, economies and polities, integrating an ‘ethic of care’ with an ‘ethic of justice’. The last section of this article explores the emergence of ‘autonomous mothers’ and their impact.

Beyond psychoanalysis and group analysis. The urgent need for a new paradigm of the human being

Freud’s momentous discovery that the largest part of mental life, both individual and collective is unknown to us and out of our control, brought about a major revolution in epistemology and our conception of the human being, but such evolution was stalled by Freud’s adherence to several assumptions that were an essential part of his Weltanschauung or ‘Conception of the World’. These were the individualistic paradigm and the misguided attempt to turn the discipline he had created into a positivistic science, framed in the model of the natural sciences. Orthodox psychoanalysis has since focused on the intrapsychic, leaving out the interpersonal and social dimensions. Group analysis, as introduced by Foulkes has been a bold attempt to transcend the limitations of psychoanalysis and integrate the dimensions it has ignored or denied. Nonetheless, the development of Foulkes’ revolutionary contributions was encumbered by his adherence to Freudian theory, just like the latter was by his creator’s subservience to positivistic natural science. Psychoanalysis and group analysis are two aspects of the wider field of analysis, but they are still impeded by a series of assumptions held by both science and common sense. These are: i) materialistic metaphysics, ii) the Cartesian subject, iii) deterministic positivism, iv) neutral objectivism, and v) rejection of teleology. Hence, the need to go beyond psychoanalysis and group analysis and formulate a new paradigm of the human being. This is a work in progress, being tackled by many people from different fields of human knowledge and practice, such as physical science, biology, neuroscience, psychoanalysis, group analysis, sociology, political science, philosophy, theology, hermeneutics, and the Humanities, among many others. It is an interdisciplinary enterprise, to which analysis may and should contribute, but only through an open dialogue with its peers in the field of human thought.

Defying Orthodox Psychoanalysis: An Encounter Based on Conservatism and Misapprehension

Defying Orthodox Psychoanalysis: An Encounter Based on Conservatism and Misapprehension

Do Erotic Art and Sexuality Have Something to Share?

Objective: The connection between art and sexuality has always been considered to be solid. Even Freud once said to turn to poets to better understand human sexuality. While in classical Freudian orthodox psychoanalysis is used to understand and explain artworks, we think that the observation of erotic art can be useful in the understanding of human sexuality. Design and Method: Several painters and their erotic production are object of our reflections. Their artistic creations (paintings, drawings, sculptures, collages etc.) are sometimes direct and explicit, other times conceptual and symbolic. Results: The encounter of the artistic work stimulates, in most cases and in the majority of the viewers, an emotional response. People reactions correlate not only to their personal sexual inner world but also to specific erotic themes. Conclusions: The observation and study of erotic art can be useful in our understanding of sexuality and develop our capacity to relate to our sexuality.

Psychodynamic Methodology of Deep Perception of a Person’s Mind

In the article “Psychodynamic methodology of deep perception of a person’s mind” an issue is raised on methodology of forming competency in a future psychologist on the basis of adequate understanding of wholeness of the psychic; comparison of academic and psychodynamic approaches to the problem of academic training of a psychologist is done as well as analysis of the leading sects in psychology relevant to psychodynamic approach. There were introduced main positions of psychodynamic theory, which are accordant with orthodox psychoanalysis in the same way as the principles of psyche in its integrity. Content of the given article stresses the importance of taking into account interconnections between the spheres of the conscious and the unconscious in their integrity and functional asymmetry in deep psychocorrection of the future psychologists.

METODOLOGY OF DEEP PERCEPTION OF A PERSON’S MIND

In the article an issue is raised on methodology of forming competency in a future psychologist on the basis of adequate understanding of wholeness of the psychic; comparison of academic and psychodynamic approaches to the problem of academic training of a psychologist is done as well as analysis of the leading sects in psychology relevant to psychodynamic approach. There were introduced main positions of psychodynamic theory, which are accordant with orthodox psychoanalysis in the same way as the principles of psyche in its integrity. Content of the given article stresses the importance of taking into account interconnections between the spheres of the conscious and the unconscious in their integrity and functional asymmetry in deep psychocorrection of the future psychologists. Researches are also directed to an issue of statics and dynamics of organization of the psychical in the integrity of its functioning. Researches convince of the need to ensure a holistic approach to improvement of the training of applied psychologists. The psychodynamic theory integrates seamlessly into the general training programme for psychologists, expands the horizons of personal growth, development of reflective intelligence and sensitivity of a future expert. All this greatly complements a format of academic training of psychologists in its orientation to mastering the standard knowledge. Moreover, the passage of deep correction catalyses personal changes towards the harmonization of the psyche structure, development of those characteristics of a person that are desirable for the formation of professional excellence and ensuring the effectiveness of psychological counselling.

Epistemological Responsibility and A Candle in the Darkness: A Review of Robert D. Stolorow's Trauma and Human Existence

In his preface to Trauma and Human Existence: Autobiographical, Psychoanalytic, and Philosophical Reflections, Robert D. Stolorow presents his work as an inquiry that interweaves “the conceptuality of emotional life in general and emotional trauma in particular,” focusing particularly on “the possibility that emotional trauma is built into the constitution of human existence” (p.xi). Stolorow’s inquiry is relevant not only to emotional trauma, but also advances our understanding of mental suffering and illnesses. Metatheoretical perspectives do not necessarily offer profound questions; they instead go straight to the heart of what may be called the “epistemological torment” in Western psychiatry. Initially, however, as I reflected on this book and on these questions, and the deep thinking they imply, my skepticism grew, since they were all to be handled in a very slim volume of a meager 62 pages. Further compounding my initial impression that this book did not delve into its subject matter in a sufficiently in-depth manner was the fact that Stolorow interweaves unwieldy theoretical considerations together with a deeply personal narrative. How can the personal become epistemologically relevant? My initial hunch, while dipping into the book, was that great questions usually accompany great ambitions, but on a first reading one could claim this book seemed to be all out of proportion. However, the author has carefully integrated theoretical and philosophical concerns, and his own experiences of traumatic loss demonstrating the point from Husserl –beyond subjectivity we can reach something common to all humankind. Stolorow is a psychoanalyst and clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, and has published extensively on the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and practice on the one hand, and philosophical questions on the other. He is well known for his works on the theoretical reformulation of orthodox psychoanalysis in books like Faces in a Cloud (1979), Structures of Subjectivity (1984), Psychoanalytic Treatment: An Intersubjective Approach (1987, with Brandchaft), and Context of Being (1992, with Atwood). Noting Stolorow’s track record, and being aware of his credentials in philosophy, including clinical psychology and in psychoanalysis, I suppressed my initial scepticism. I decided to give Stolorow’s work a chance. Trauma and Human Existence is Volume 23 in the “Psychoanalytic Inquiry Book Series,” and consists of seven fairly easy to read chapters. Each chapter, moreover, can function as a separate essay independent of its place in the book. The accessibility of the author’s writing is supported by his easy alternation between clinical and autobiographical vignettes, consistently guided as it is by theoretical and philosophical questions. However, this initial sense of readability is rather deceptive, because easy to read does not always mean easy to understand in-depth. I discovered that the intellectual challenge increases in Chapter 5, entitled Trauma and the “Ontological Unconscious,” where Stolorow opens with no less than five quotations from the philosophers Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ludwig Wittgenstein,

Salud mental y ética: El concepto de sentimiento de comunidad en la psicología de Alfred Adler

This study defines Adler’s concept of “sense of community” and its ethical consequences equating it to mental health. The beginnings of individual psychology and the differences with orthodox psychoanalysis are analyzed to lead to the humanistic and social vision Adler has of persons and their psychological complexity. For Adler the sense of community constitutes the ethical framework that provides value to human activity. Basic concepts of Adler’s psychology are further discussed in order to define mental health as the intensity of the sense of community that a person has, which becomes a reference point and not an absolute truth. The sense of community is something one should aspire “as if” (Als ob) it were realizable.

Freud's alleged repudiation of the seduction theory revisited: facts and fallacies.

Over the decades the official story, nay, the shibboleth of orthodox psychoanalysis (as represented, for example, by Anna Freud, Ernest Jones, James Strachey, and Kurt Eissler), has been that Freud retracted the false seduction theory of the neuroses in favor of the true theory, infantile sexuality and the Oedipus complex. This change of causal theory, analysts believed, stemmed from clinical experience and was an act of intellectual courage. Freud’s own account of his revelation (Freud, 1896a), recantation (letter to Fliess of September 1897), and rehabilitation of the seduction theory stands in stark contrast to the official story. In 1981 Jeffrey Masson transformed the controversy into a cause celebre by claiming, upon reading letters from Freud to Fliess (Freud, 1887–1904), previously expurgated by Anna Freud from their first publication in 1950, that Freud abjured the seduction theory out of cowardice and dishonesty. These views were sensationalized by reporters Ralph Blumenthal in 1981 and Janet Malcolm in 1983 (Malcolm, 1984), in The New York Times and The New Yorker magazine, respectively, to climax in 1984 in the no less sensational best-seller by Masson (1984a) The Assault on Truth: Freud’s Suppression of the Seduction Theory. But even before the book appeared, Malcolm’s portrait of Masson in The New Yorker made him look like a mix of modern-day Rasputin with women and a seductive manipulator of his elders—in the words of psychiatrist Robert Coles writing in The Boston Globe, “a grandiose egotist—mean-spirited, self-serving, full of braggadocio, impossibly arrogant and, in the end, a self-destructive fool . . . his own words reveal this psychological profile” (quoted in

A Liberation Psychoanalysis for Russia

���������� Background During my visit to Russia I found it to be a confused and confusing place. Since my visit to Russia in October of 1997, I have developed some tentative ideas concerning the possible “place” of psychoanalytic theory and practice in today’s Russia. While there, and now as well, I feel that the present Western psychoanalytic establishment, which I believe is very vulnerable itself, may be taking an hegemonic approach toward Russia which would be in Western self-interest rather than in the interest of the Russian people. I think that Western psychoanalysts might be enticed by the market value of Russia in at least two ways: the chance to spread a Western brand of psychoanalytic thought and practice to a potentially newly developing democratic/capitalist nation; and to reap the “profits” of their “God’s Eye View.” The “God’s Eye View” of the orthodox psychoanalyst is that they represent a universal standpoint that reifies neutrality in all circumstances. In Russia’s current political atmosphere of post communism/post-totalitarianism and authoritarianism, neutrality and politics cannot coexist. Russia, with its totalitarian history, has a population that responds unreflectively to authoritarian rule. Western orthodox psychoanalysis delivers its messages with authority. The paradox is that although Western analysts are working from a so-called free model of the mind, their delivery style might greatly appeal to Russians who are used to dogma, rigid thinking, and taking orders. The Russians, it seems clear to me, have “no mental model of freedom” (Sebek, Michael, personal communication, Prague, Oct. 1997). The “God’s Eye View” as taken by Western orthodox psychoanalysis might have

The New Neuropsychology of Sleep: Implications for Psychoanalysis

In his 1895 “Project for a Scientific Psychology,” Sigmund Freud clearly stated his goal: to integrate the workings of the mind with the workings of the brain. But in his day, too little neurobiology was known to make his goal attainable and he tried instead to understand such fascinating normal phenomena as dreaming in exclusively psychodynamic terms. A century later, Freud’s brilliant but entirely speculative dream theory is in need of radical revision, if not complete overhaul, because dreams, as well as other unusual states of consciousness, can finally be approached from the solid foundation of modern neuroscience. In other words, the goals of Freud’s Project are at last within our grasp. Ironically, an obstacle to progress is the tenacious adherence of orthodox psychoanalysis to a theory that even by the standards of its originator, is now clearly outmoded.In this paper, recent positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and brain lesion studies in humans are integrated with new basic research findings at the cellular level in animals to explain how the formal cognitive features of dreaming may be the combined product of a shift in the neuromodulator balance of the brain and a related redistribution of regional blood flow. The human PET data indicate a preferential activation in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep of the pontomesencephalic brainstem and of limbic and paralimbic cortical structures involved in the emotional and mnemonic aspects of cognition. The pontine brainstem mechanisms controlling the neuromodulator balance of the brain in rats and cats include noradrenergic and serotonergic influences which enhance waking and impede REM via anticholinergic mechanisms, and cholinergic mechanisms which are essential to REM sleep and only come into full play when the serotonergic and noradrenergic systems are inhibited. In REM, the brain thus becomes activated but processes its internally generated data in a manner quite different from that of waking.

The New Informants: The Betrayal of Confidentiality in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

The New Informants by Bollas and Sundelson is a difficult book to review on several levels. There are some very strong criticisms made of the weakening of confidentiality by the courts, by some therapists themselves, and by third parties who may hold estate executor functions. These criticisms are easy to support. In the end the authors also provide a solution to the problem they define. As a biologically oriented psychiatrist who utilizes some psychotherapeutic techniques and has some involvement in managed care, I was challenged by this book to examine the issues involved. On the other hand the authors' perspectives are so shaped by their adherence to an orthodox psychoanalysis that it is difficult to contemplate their thesis. Their expressed regret for the lost esteem and financial support of their clinical practice in contemporary therapy is so predominant that the message on confidentiality is blurred. The idea that psychoanalysis, a

Psychoanalysis: Waning or Waxing?-Reply

In Reply. —I wish that Drs Clemens and Mosher had considered the whole review instead of reacting to the first half sentence. In the latter, I meant only that orthodox psychoanalysis is losing its influence on etiologic surmises for major psychoses. The statistics quoted by Clemens and Mosher speak for themselves. Indeed, with the evolving and spreading newer forms of analysis, there are now three psychoanalytic institutes in southern California. On the other hand, my colleagues and I have observed that the number of psychoanalytic articles is greatly reduced in major psychiatric journals. This trend is also evident in the titles of the sessions at the last American Psychiatric Association convention. Also, it seems that not only have psychiatric residency programs reduced emphasis on psychoanalytic theories, but many residents now complain about the lack of psychodynamic teaching.

Commentary on trop and Stolorow's “defense analysis in self psychology”;

I want to begin by thanking Drs. Trop and Stolorow for a very interesting paper. I am in basic sympathy with many features of the clinical approach they recommend and describe so clearly and persuasively. I see their perspective as similar and in many respects compatible with other major theoretical traditions, such as interpersonal psychoanalysis and some versions of object relations theories. Taken together, these various relational theories have provided a compelling and comprehensive alternative to the classical model of orthodox psychoanalysis. In my view, the battle against orthodoxy has been largely won; the real vitality and creativity in the field have shifted to efforts, like the present one, to develop postclassical, broadly relational approaches to mind, development, and the analytic situation. Because the battle has been won, it is now less interesting to recount the deficiencies of the classical model than to explore the subtle but quite important differences among postclassical perspectives, and that is what I intend to do in this discussion.

Comments on Jervis

Reading again what I heard Jervis deliver in the Jersey Meadows leaves me once more enthusiastic about virtually all aspects of his tripartite message. As an author of Opinions and Personality (political psychology of long ago), and as a charter member of ISPP (inactive until recently), I am deeply stirred by his well-targeted and constructive remarks. My commentary is intended to reinforce his message here and there, and to suggest a bit more hope in regard to recent developments in psychology that I probably know more about than he does, though he is extraordinarily well informed across the humanly important interdisciplinary area that ISPP has staked out. First, Jervis talks of professional challenges. He is surely right about decline in the status of psychoanalysis and psychobiography in the social/behavioral sciences and affiliated areas of application, but understandably he does not comment about the tragedy of that situation. Half a century since Freud's death, even card-carrying orthodox psychoanalysis is full of heterodoxy from drive theory through ego psychology to the contemporary variants of object-relations self-psychology, and hermeneutics. The possible contributions of psychoanalytic ideas to our discourse are now much richer and more challenging, but the world, including ourselves, is less receptive. This state of affairs is too bad, and ISPP can help correct it. Another professional challenge that Jervis puts before us is the current predominance of essentially economic models not only in political science, as he says, but also in sociology and psychology in the various versions of exchange theory, as well as in technical decision theory. I agree with him that this is wrong and I hope it is temporary. One special reason for my opposition is that the economic models used to guide policy decisions seem always to build in a discount factor equivalent to interest rates on the moneys to be invested in the project under consideration which ensures by