Psychoanalytic Approach Research Articles

Trauma and Psyche in Invisible Man and the Time Regulation Institute: A Lacanian Psychoanalytical Approach

This study carefully examines Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952) and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s The Time Regulation Institute (1961), while applying Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory on identity formation as a theoretical framework. Besides their publication in a similar timeframe, both literary works delve into various themes that eventually focus on the deep trauma experienced by individuals at the time. Ellison's master work explores the racial discrimination that prevailed American society, while Tanpinar's work underscores the difficult challenges surrounding Turkish people in the middle of the turbulent years of modernization period. By applying Lacan’s concepts of the Imaginary and Symbolic orders, this analysis helps to interpret how the protagonists manage to go through instances where they face intense psychological discomfort, estrangement from societal expectations and norms, and disillusionment stemming from significant losses. More specifically, the study analyzes how trauma, consciousness, psyche and loss are portrayed and altered in different states, while shedding light on their immense influence on the characters' sense of alienation and disillusionment, discussed within the theoretical framework of Lacanian psychoanalytic theory. Through this interdisciplinary discussion, this study’s aim is to provide a wider comprehension of the complex structures of identity, trauma, and alienation portrayed in presented literature, offering acumen into the human nature within modern society.

과학교육전공생들의 사범대학 적응과정에서 나타나는 ((예비교사))*의 수용과 저항: Lacan 정신분석학의 상징계 이론을 토대로

Objectives This study assumed that the career conflict that appears during the settlement process of students majoring in science education at a teacher's college can start with the process of defining the student subject as a “pre-service teacher” and reinterpreted this with the signifier theory of Lacanian psychoanalysis. Methods For the study, 60 third- and fourth-year science education students from three national universities across the country participated, and the data were analyzed through word cloud and language network analysis and qualitative analysis. Results As a result of the study, it was found that current students define themselves as ((pre-service teachers)) in terms of their definition and personality and internalize this, especially in terms of personality. In addition, professors played a major role in the signification of ((pre-service teacher)), and signification was taking place in the overall curriculum of the College of Education. Lastly, the type of emotion toward ((pre-service teacher)), the perception of whether ((pre-service teacher)) reflects one's own identity, and the accepting attitude toward ((pre-service teacher)) were closely related to each other. Conclusions Accordingly, this study suggested that ((prospective teachers)) can be one of the factors that can cause conflict or career settlement in the teaching profession and suggested attempting a new psychoanalytical approach to the problem of career conflict in teachers' colleges.

Uncovering deep-rooted conflicts: the role of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in treating athletes' social media-related psychological distress.

The use of social media by athletes can support them in difficult moments, but it can also become a source of negative emotions and psychological distress. This perspective critically examines psychoanalytic psychotherapy as a method for restoring athletes' psychological well-being after experiencing negative effects from social media use. The paper characterizes the key elements of psychoanalytic psychotherapy relevant to athletes, discusses the role of the psychoanalytic psychotherapist in working with athletes and describes the specifics of the psychoanalytic therapeutic process in this context. The potential advantages of psychoanalytic approaches over cognitive-behavioral methods are examined in treating the psychological impacts of problematic social media use among athletes. The analysis suggests that hate speech and negative online interactions can activate athletes' unprocessed life experiences rooted in early developmental stages. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy may offer a particularly effective method for restoring athletes' psychological wellbeing in such cases by addressing deep-rooted intrapsychic conflicts. However, a comprehensive approach integrating multiple therapeutic modalities is recommended to address the complex challenges athletes face in the digital age. This perspective acknowledges limitations in current research and suggest directions for future studies to develop and validate tailored interventions for athletes grappling with social media-related psychological distress.

Des triangles diffus, entre échec queer et Anti-Œdipe : technique, métapsychologie et politique psychanalytique

ContextThis article explores the interactions between psychoanalysis, queer theory, and the political and clinical implications of critiques against the Oedipus complex, particularly through the works of Deleuze, Guattari, and Halberstam. It aims to analyze how alternative theoretical perspectives, drawn from social and cultural criticism, can renew classical psychoanalytic approaches, particularly in addressing traditional symbolic structures. ObjectivesThe main objective of the article is to question the current relevance of the Oedipus complex in psychoanalytic practice, in light of critiques from queer and post-structuralist theories. It seeks to demonstrate that the failure of the Oedipal paradigm can be seen not as an obstacle but as a path toward theoretical and clinical renewal, opening up new perspectives on subjectivities and social dynamics. MethodThe author employs a theoretical analysis, based on a cross-reading of Deleuze and Guattari's works, notably Anti-Oedipus, and Jack Halberstam's studies on failure in queer culture. The article integrates examples from both popular culture and philosophical reflections to illustrate how failure and non-conformity can become critical tools within the framework of psychoanalysis and clinical practice. ResultsThe analysis shows that the critique of Oedipus, as elaborated by Deleuze and Guattari, and the valorization of failure by Halberstam, offer relevant perspectives for rethinking psychoanalytic practice. By rejecting developmental teleology and normative success, these theories allow for an expansion of psychoanalytic praxis, opening it up to more fluid forms of existence and subjectivity, less bound by heteronormative and capitalist expectations. They also facilitate the inclusion of subjects traditionally marginalized, such as sexual and gender minorities, within a more inclusive vision of psychic care. InterpretationThe article argues that psychoanalysis, if it remains anchored in a rigid reading of the Oedipus complex, risks becoming entrenched in a conservative framework that limits its clinical scope. However, an openness to radical critiques, particularly those emerging from queer theory and social critiques of family and gender, can revitalize psychoanalytic practice and enable it to address contemporary issues. Failure, rather than being seen as a shortcoming of the subject or therapy, can be embraced as a critical stance that challenges social norms and opens up possibilities for subjective and collective reinvention.

The Spectacles of Violence in David Mamet’s Oleanna

Violence is the highest point reached by tensions as a consequence of clashing advantages. For the literary writings, it shows the essential framework of human feelings. Although critics a little bit drill down on violence, it is still a principal attribute of social communication among people. It is also typified by the physical practices of force on people. Its meaning includes not only its corporal aspect but also its psychological experiences. This paper aims to investigate the impacts of violence on characters’ feelings and emotions in David Mamet’s Oleanna. It also examines violence in its multifaceted shape: gender violence, class violence, and cultural violence. It takes into account the psychoanalytical approach to bring out the psychological influences of violence and exploitation in Western society, especially in the American establishments. Having related to violence, the paper tries to show the influence of variant outcomes of alienation, rape, searching for power and emotional turmoil. The significance of the research lies in throwing light on the issue of violence in the domain of campus theatre.

How Do Trauma and Identity Unfold Through Dialogue? A Psychoanalytic and Linguistic Analysis of Netflix's Slasher Solstice

This study aims to explore the relationship between trauma, desire, and identity through language patterns in the Netflix series Slasher: Solstice. Using a psychoanalytic and linguistic analysis approach, the research delves into how characters' dialogues and speech styles reflect their psychological states, particularly in confronting past traumas. The study employs a qualitative method with observational analysis of the interactions and dialogues of the main characters within the series. The results reveal that speech patterns, word choice, and intonation provide deep insights into the characters' psychological conditions. For instance, the character Connor displays aggressive and fragmented speech patterns as a defense mechanism against trauma, while the character Sadia exhibits emotional control through structured and formal language. This research offers a new perspective by combining psychoanalytic and linguistic approaches to understand character development within the horror genre. The analysis reveals that shifts in language style, as the narrative unfolds, indicate a transformation in the characters' identities, increasingly shaped by trauma and internal conflict.

Extending Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis to Special Populations: Regulation-Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C) and Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Adolescents (TFP-A)

ABSTRACT In the last decade clinicians and researchers have developed Regulation-Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C) and Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Adolescents (TFP-A), two manualized, evidence-based, time-limited treatments derived from child and adolescent psychoanalysis. These therapies are designed to treat special, complex patient populations including children with severe externalizing behaviors and adolescents with nascent or actual severe personality disorders, youth thought to be beyond the reach of traditional psychoanalysis or thought to benefit from modifications of standard psychoanalytic technique to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of psychoanalytic treatment. Despite the effectiveness of psychoanalysis, manualized cognitive-behavioral approaches like parent management training and dialectical behavior therapy are currently the most popular treatments for these patients, partially because there are too few child and adolescent psychoanalysts to meet demand. The authors describe RFP-C and TFP-A and illustrate their effectiveness using clinical material. The authors advocate for wider acceptance and utilization of these two broadly teachable manualized treatments by the psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic communities to extend the reach of psychoanalysis to severely suffering patients who can reap the unique benefits of these essentially psychoanalytic approaches.

The Umbilical.

Traditional psychoanalytic approaches view excessive parental, social or relational involvement in human development as an opportunity for linking complex gender and identity experiences. The analyst's unconscious bias might present them with an opportunity for interpretation that might resemble something akin to conversion therapy. All of which leaves the patient feeling alienated thereby confirming their exiled Self. Early relational trauma affects every gender and sexual identity. In turn each traumatic situation, from inappropriate interference to traumatic abuse, affects how an individual forms and experiences relationships. Gender and sexual identity are fluid agencies of the Self within all human development. For people who are non-normative when it comes to their gender, identity or sexuality, evidence of early relational trauma should not unthinkingly be treated alongside mental health struggles. This clinical paper explores the once-weekly analytic work with a young trans man who was exiled and lived in a dysregulated state of mind from his early relational trauma. This paper uses images from the artist Louise Bourgeois to explore the early development of projective identification and to propose that this becomes a way of exiling unwanted feelings into the Other with the hope of finding a place of belonging as if through a psychic umbilical.

Keeping Our Development on Track: Introduction to the Section on Challenges and Innovations in Child Psychoanalysis

ABSTRACT The following papers are based on talks from the Child Congress of the American Psychoanalytic Association in February 2024. As the title suggests, they aim to address the questions: Is child analysis developing and progressing? Are we keeping pace with the contemporary needs of trainees and of the children, adolescents, emerging adults, and parents who we serve? The authors in this section approach such questions from diverse vantage points – history, training, theory, treatment – and suggest ways to foster ongoing relevance and vitality in our field. Their discussions include: examining historical problems and evolutions; reviewing recent innovations in child analytic education, identifying remaining gaps in our programs, and proposing additional training opportunities; describing child analysts’ longstanding role as integrators of research from neighboring disciplines; and exploring ways to extend our field’s deep fund of knowledge to vulnerable and underserved populations who would benefit from modified psychoanalytic approaches.

Buster Moon Projections: How Cartoon Characters Activate Psychoanalytic Defense Mechanisms in "Sing (2016)"

This research aims to examine the projection of the character Buster Moon in the animated film "Sing" (2016) using a psychoanalytic theory approach, especially defense mechanisms. Buster Moon, an optimistic and persistent koala, struggles to save his theater from bankruptcy by holding a singing competition. This study explores how the character reflects and activates defense mechanisms by projection, both within himself and in interactions with other characters. Denial can be seen in his continued disregard for difficult financial realities. Projection is demonstrated through the way he handles personal fears and failures by focusing on the dreams and ambitions of others. Through this analysis, the author reveals how Buster Moon as a cartoon character functions not only as an entertainer, but also as a reflection of human defense mechanisms, providing insight into how animated films can function as a medium for understanding psychological dynamics in life. Keywords: Film, Projection, Defense Mechanism, Psychoanalysis

The introduction of the concept of anxiety into China: a thematic historical study.

This article presents a thematic historical study on the introduction of "anxiety" to modern China. Based on seminal research conducted previously by European scholars on histories of psychological and psychiatric concepts, this article reviews the itinerary of "anxiety" to China by using multiple types of textual evidence. Alongside a detailed description of how "anxiety" was translated and introduced, a comparison between the notions of "anxiety" in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western psychoanalytic approaches was made. The processes of how "depression" and "anxiety" were introduced to China were also compared. Three types of textual evidence were meticulously analyzed. First, lexicographical works published since the 19th century were examined to trace the initial introduction and observe the standardized translation of "anxiety" in Chinese. Second, newspaper and periodical articles were analyzed to understand how knowledge of "anxiety" was communicated to the general public. Third, the evolution of psychological and psychiatric terminologies was observed through medical books. It was found that "anxiety" was initially translated into various Chinese terms, with "jiaolyu" eventually emerging as the standardized term after 1949. The textual evidence showed that "anxiety" began to be acknowledged as a disease concept in the early 20th century, though it was not formally recognized as a diagnostic category until the late 20th century. This article also highlights the differences between the Western psychoanalytic view on anxiety and the Chinese folk conception of it. It was observed that the introduction processes of depression and anxiety to China were similar, though their conceptual histories in the West showed much difference. The fading of neurasthenia marked a new era of psychiatric development in China, characterized by an enhanced specificity in the classification of mental disorders, which was never observed in the discourse about "xin feng," a corresponding TCM notion of "anxiety." The article also underscores the need for further exploration of corresponding TCM concepts of "anxiety" and the assimilation of Western psychiatric concepts in China.

Parent work offered by child psychoanalytic psychotherapists: a literature review

ABSTRACT Born out of the traditional model of psychoanalysis for adults, child psychoanalytic psychotherapists initially focused primarily on their young patients’ inner world. Cultural, economic, and theoretical changes have, however, led child psychotherapists to re-evaluate the importance of the environment, and particularly the role of parents, in the lives of children and young people. In contemporary clinical practice, child psychotherapists often include work with parents when addressing mental health difficulties in children and adolescents. However, no clear theoretical and clinical framework exists for working with parents in psychoanalytic child psychotherapy. This paper provides an overview of the various ways child psychoanalytic psychotherapists engage with parents, as well as a discussion of the commonalities and divergences in different psychoanalytic approaches to parent work. The aim of the paper is to synthesise current literature and to clarify this area of work. This is a narrative review of the literature on the types of engagement and models of work with parents of children and adolescents currently offered by child psychoanalytic psychotherapists. The literature reflects the absence of one accepted formulation and practice in parent work. Despite the growing literature, the lack of cross-referencing and shared language using existing and new psychoanalytic ideas perpetuates the field’s fragmentation. In the current cultural and economic context, where other modalities thrive on evidence-based data, the survival of child psychoanalytic psychotherapy in public mental health provision is uncertain. An integrated formulation is needed both to help therapists in their work with parents and allow the evaluation of work with families.

Can AI Lie? Chabot Technologies, the Subject, and the Importance of Lying

This article poses a simple question: can AI lie? In response to this question, the article examines, as its point of inquiry, popular AI chatbots, such as, ChatGPT. In doing so, an examination of the psychoanalytic, philosophical, and technological significance of AI and its complexities are located in relation to the dynamics of truth, falsity, and deception. That is, by critically considering the chatbot’s ability to engage in natural language conversations and provide contextually relevant responses, it is argued that what separates the AI chatbot from anthropocentric debates, which allude to some form of conscious recognition on behalf of AI, is the importance of the lie – an importance which a psychoanalytic approach can reveal. Indeed, while AI technologies can undoubtedly blur the line between lies and truth-speaking, in the case of the AI chatbot, it is detailed how such technology remains unable to lie authentically or, in other words, is unable to lie like a human. For psychoanalysis, the capacity to lie bears witness to the unconscious and, thus, plays an important role in determining the subject. It is for this reason that rather than uncritically accepting the chatbot’s authority – an authority that is easily reflected in its honest responses and frank admissions – a psychoanalytic (Lacanian) perspective can highlight the significance of the unconscious as a distorting factor in determining the subject. To help elucidate this argument, specific attention is given to introducing and applying Lacan’s subject of enunciation and subject of the enunciated. This is used to assert that what continues (for now) to set us apart from AI technology is not necessarily our ‘better knowledge’ but our capability to consciously engage in acts of falsehood that function to reveal the social nuances and significances of the lie.

Psychoanalytic Approach to Louise Glück’s Blended Receptions of the Myths of Narcissus and Persephone in Averno

In recent years, mythological retellings have garnered increasing acclaim. One such example is Louise Glück’s book of poetry Averno (2006), in which she blends the myths of Narcissus and Persephone. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, a narcissus serves as bait when Hades abducts Persephone. However, in Glück’s contemporary rewriting, Persephone seeks to escape her authoritarian mother by embracing Hades, whose perspective is given in “A Myth of Devotion,” but the ultimate outcome is that Persephone is controlled by both her mother and her husband. In the present paper, I shall first address the reception of the myths of Persephone and Narcissus in Glück’s “A Myth of Innocence.” Then, I shall analyse sexuality, trauma and marriage in “A Myth of Innocence” and “A Myth of Devotion” from a psychoanalytic perspective, while also exploring the motifs that occur in Glück’s appropriation of the two myths in question.

Racial melancholia, ambivalence, and shame: a psycho-social examination of white student resistance to anti-racism in a secondary classroom

ABSTRACT This critical ethnographic study uses the concept of racial melancholia to investigate white student resistance to anti-racism in a secondary classroom. I employ a psycho-social (the interplay between psychoanalytic and social processes) approach to examining racialisation through a theoretical and empirical exploration of racial melancholia’s role in engendering a traumatic conflict between desiring anti-racism and betraying whiteness, a conflict that I argue serves as the core of white subjectivity. I analyse three different ways in which racial melancholia caused white students to vacillate between coveting anti-racism and reproducing racism. These students waged a psycho-social battle with whiteness that was mediated by social forces including family, friends, and classmates intersecting and overlapping with psychical processes related to ambivalence and shame. I conclude with how methods for storytelling can open pathways for working through racial melancholia.

The Intersection of Ideology, Subjectivity, and Social Psychology: A Psychoanalytic Approach

This study explores the role of ideology in social psychology and psychoanalysis by drawing on the theoretical approaches of key figures such as Martín-Baró, Moscovici, Lacan, and Žižek. The research highlights how ideology functions as a structure influencing human subjectivity and actions, particularly through the mechanism of fantasy as articulated in Lacanian theory. Ideology is not only seen as an explicit system of beliefs but also as an unconscious process that shapes identification and social interaction. Through in-depth analysis, this study demonstrates that fantasy plays a crucial role in reproducing ideological structures, thereby enabling the persistence of the existing social order. The study also expands our understanding of how gender and political ideologies are produced and reproduced in everyday life. By integrating psychoanalytic concepts and ideological analysis, this research offers a new perspective on understanding human subjectivity within a social context and proposes a more comprehensive theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between social psychology and ideology. These findings are expected to contribute significantly to the existing literature and encourage further research in this field.

The Orpheus' and Eurydice's Myth as a Decoding Grid for the Psychic Damages Caused by Losses Incurred by the COVID-19 Epidemic

This work aims to offer a guideline for treating losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychoanalysis has proven to provide multiple levels of interpretation of both dreams and clinical material, as well as myths, which, for this reason, can also act as an interpretative grid of many current clinical situations, being paradigmatic of human dramas, conquests and tragedies. However, the classical psychoanalytic approach has often used stereotypes that have led to prefabricated and caricatural interpretations, leading to the loss of the richness of suggestions that myths can give to clinical interventions. The Orpheus’ and Eurydice’s myth, being descriptive of the loss of the object of love, which is the most devastating and destructive of losses, can prove helpful in framing the clinical paths to be faced in repairing the damage suffered and in resuming the lost opportunities of development, due to the restrictions imposed by the containment measures of the covid-19 pandemic. The present work presents semiological and psychoanalytic integrated approaches to interpret this myth, proposing itself as an intervention grid for the treatment of losses suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, also able to overcome some of the difficulties inherent in other approaches. In particular, "Orpheus' error" presents some suggestions for adopting the clinical approach, which has found support in longitudinal research carried out in the field with a different methodology.

The Infl uence of Trickster Behavior in the Media Space on the Dynamics of Cultural Industries

The trend of media consumption in recent years has been the sharp interest of the mass audience in communication and entertainment. This practice can also be traced in the dynamics of the development of cultural industries, where the emergence of new words (“blog”, “podcast”, “hashtag”, etc.) is noted. This indicates that the media continues to play a huge role in the production and preferences of certain cultural products. Under the infl uence of mediatization, there is a steady demand for behavioral models that, based on humor, irony or deception, contribute to changing the existing order. One of these models is trickster behavior. Such actions in the society of impressions are perceived as a form of entertainment. The purpose of this article is to attempt a philosophical understanding of such transformations in public consciousness and media consumption in the context of cultural and economic dynamics. My thesis is that the trickster, who is a universal archetypal fi gure immersed in a socio-cultural context, plays an important role both in mythology and in religion, culture, media, economics, and politics. It serves as a unifying principle in the process of forming the social memory of peoples, exposing the negative qualities of man and society, showing the level of existing values and morality. Sociocultural, semiotic, historiosophical, communicative and psychoanalytic approaches have been applied to the study of trickster behavior. As a result of the research, manipulative tactics used by tricksters in the media space have been identifi ed, which make it possible to implement a strategy of theatricality: in behavior and speech on the verge of “norm – outrageousness”, an unconventional vision of the situation, a reaction to the challenges of social reality, the introduction of new cultural mythologies into public consciousness. The infl uence of their actions on the formation of sociocultural stereotypes is noted. The study expands the understanding of trickster behavior through the prism of established trends in media consumption and reproduction of cultural products (movies, games, blogs, performances by media personalities, etc.). The relevance of the trickster model of behavior is justifi ed by the digitalization and mediatization of the space of human existence. Keywords: trickster, trickster behavior, cultural industries, archetype, cultural mythologies

Identity Crisis in Strindberg’s Miss Julie and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard: A Psychoanalytical Study

August Strindberg’s Miss Julie and Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard have always been recurrently analyzed within disputable studies concerning the characters’ psychoanalytic makeup, the characters’ breakdown at the break of a new social class, and a naturalistic, existential approach. Such a foundational approach for analysis is overpoweringly highlighted in the two plays within an unshakable regularity to the assumption that female identities in the two plays have undergone intense turmoil, toppled heavily in the middle of socioeconomic changes with the decline of aristocracy. However, this paper aims to juxtapose and compare the concept of identity crisis in association with the traumatic experiences of the two characters Miss Julie and Mrs. Ranyevskaia through a comparative psychoanalytic approach. It is inexplicable how the two addressed characters grapple with their different circumstances with fractured identities, where they fail to stand up for their social and gender roles and elevate their sense of individuation and selfhood in the middle of the surrounding deteriorations. Through a comparative analysis, this study lays the groundwork needed for exploring, interpreting, and investigating more nuanced reciprocal relationships associated with identity crisis.

Psychoanalytic approaches for understanding and managing hospital pain: A qualitative analysis of a Colombian hospital case study

Psychoanalytic approaches for understanding and managing hospital pain: A qualitative analysis of a Colombian hospital case study