Clinical Psychoanalysis Research Articles

Christianity and Psychoanalysis: Orienting View and Augmenting Modality

ABSTRACT Much has been written about the influence of religious narratives on the lives and work of psychoanalytic theorists and clinicians. This article seeks to specifically extend an understanding of the Christian narrative into the clinical setting and examine the applicability and usefulness of its tenets and practices in treatment. The author will examine the unique way that Christian psychoanalysts might view their craft and their patients, and how the Christian faith might offer specific approaches based on a belief in the presence and influence of God in their work.

¿Cuándo se puede hablar de un "caso de género" en psicoanálisis? Usos del género en la clínica

¿Qué lectura podemos hacer acerca de la Ley de Identidad de Género Nº26743 desde el psicoanálisis? Existen diversas posiciones que van desde el rechazo, pasando por la indiferencia, llegando a una fascinación queriendo hacer de la Ley una orientación clínica. Desde la orientación lacaniana, deberíamos poder realizar una posible lectura desde nuestro propio real, aquel que enuncia una ausencia de saber en lo real concerniente a la sexualidad. Entonces, ¿cómo incide en la clínica psicoanalítica esta nueva configuración de las identidades sexuales a partir de las nuevas legislaciones sobre el género? ¿Afecta de algún modo a la ética del psicoanálisis? ¿Cuándo podemos hablar de “un caso de género” en psicoanálisis? Son algunos de los interrogantes a los que se tratará de dar respuesta en este artículo.

Narcissism, Realism, and Their Paradoxical Relation

This paper is an exploration of the way in which narcissistic fantasies contribute to the development of a capacity for reality testing by moderating anxiety aroused by development that could otherwise become traumatic. Images of the success and failure of this psychic process are to be found in Raphael’s painting “The School of Athens.” The facilitation of an improved capacity for realism by narcissistic fantasies is a paradoxical idea because, in and of themselves, narcissistic fantasies substitute for reality. The family romance fantasy is examined to explore whether or not the contradiction is only apparent even though the fantasy is in itself delusional. The basic purpose of the paper is to explore the contribution of narcissistic fantasies and narcissistic needs which are not themselves reality bound but which psychically facilitate the development of forms of experience and thought that are reality bound. These themes are explored in the history of ideas, in individual development, and in clinical psychoanalysis.

Horsing Around: Commentary on Sehrbrock’s “Social Thirdness: Intersubjective Conceptions of the Experience of Gender Prejudice”

ABSTRACT This commentary on Sehrbrock’s “Social Thirdness: Intersubjective Conceptions of the Experience of Gender Prejudice” highlights the role of social thirdness and its breakdown across a variety of domains, clinically and cross-culturally. It expands upon the concept of White Fragility, introducing the concept of mythological fragility—one that pertains to the need to maintain a person’s and/or a culture’s collective psychological organization and their essential ties to important others. The role of “horsing around”—the exercise of an expansive sense of play, freedom, creativity, passion, and authenticity—is essential not only in early life, but in the clinical setting, allowed, or sometimes disallowed, in the context of clinical psychoanalysis. This commentary argues, in agreement with Sehrbrock, that clinical work should provide a space in which both patient and analyst can indeed “horse around” and then see what becomes of it. This includes the adoption of an attitude of constructive uncertainty and of striving to be open to surprise, however welcome or unwelcome that surprise may be.

Investigación en psicoanálisis y pulsión de muerte

In this paper some research issues are presented in psychoanalysis, particularly in what corresponds to death drive by Sabina Spielrein and conceptualized by Freud. Today, we live a hypermodern era of scientific breakthroughs, technological contributions, complex ecological challenges, instant communication and unlimited access to information and simultaneously live multiple forms of violence directed against human beings. Psychoanalytic clinic based in Sabina Spielrein, Freud and Lacan Eros and the death drive is present, it is imperative to accommodate them in the analytic session, by virtue that few places nowadays, such as psychoanalysis, allow plausible listening, slow, at your own pace, and not with the rush of our 21st century. This presumes both the desire to support allows you to address the subjective suffering of those who seek us analysis and see what can be produced with this.

Una investigación sobre la Función de la Escritura en la Clínica Psicoanalítica

La tesis de Maestría titulada “La Función de la Escritura en la Clínica Psicoanalítica. Especificidad Clínica: el síntoma como trama entre significante y letra”despliegala pregunta por el lugar de la escritura en psicoanálisis, el cual, se presenta como enigmático porque puede ser tanto soporte explicativo de múltiples aspectos teóricos como articulador intersticial de las elaboraciones que habitan el límite mismo del concepto en psicoanálisis. Este impacto controversial de la noción de escritura nos motivó a asumir una posición problematizadora sobre las interpelaciones que nos acerca el trabajo clínico. A partir de abordar esta estructura hipotética en un trabajo exhaustivo de interlocución con las elaboraciones freudianas y lacanianas produjimos una serie de premisas tentativas sobre los límites que configuran el campo nocional de la escritura y, en consecuencia, el itinerario de articulaciones con otros conceptos clínicos visibilizados a través del hilo conductor del síntoma pues evidencia a la propia estructuración psíquica.

O terapeuta suficientemente narrativo na clínica psicanalítica infantil

A escrita dessa pesquisa movimenta quatro questões teóricas importantes no âmbito da clínica Psicanalítica: a infância, brincar e narrar. Buscar-se-á ao longo desse percurso tecer relações entre elas a fim de que seja possível refletir sobre o lugar e a função do psicólogo na clínica psicanalítica infantil partindo da noção de narração, a partir de um referencial teórico psicanalítico de abordagem winnicottiana. A pesquisa foi realizada com três profissionais da área, que são autores importantes dentro do cenário da clínica psicanalítica infantil e, que vem se ocupando atualmente, de reflexões acerca da função narrativa do psicoterapeuta. A coleta de dados deu-se a partir de um questionário estruturado e os dados foram interpretados pelo método de análise de conteúdo. A partir da pesquisa foi possível pensar em algumas especificidades da clínica psicanalítica infantil como o papel do brincar e o espaço dos pais no processo psicoterápico além problematizar a noção de narração no setting levando em consideração as especificidades desta clínica.

ADOLESCÊNCIA, ATO INFRACIONAL E MEDIDAS SOCIOEDUCATIVAS À LUZ DA PSICANÁLISE: UM ESTUDO DE REVISÃO SISTEMÁTICA DE LITERATURA

Este estudo buscou compreender questões relacionadas à adolescência, ato infracional e medidas socioeducativas, tendo a psicanálise como orientação teórica. Para isso, realizou-se pesquisa em revistas indexadas nas bases de dados Pepsic, Scielo, Redalyc, Doaj e Lilacs, publicadas nacionalmente, no período de 2009 a 2014. Selecionou-se, inicialmente, 310 artigos que contivessem como descritores: adolescência, medidas socioeducativas, ato infracional e psicanálise. Destes, foram escolhidos 30 artigos após os critérios de exclusão. Os resultados categorizados pelas ênfases mostraram que o fenômeno dos adolescentes envolvidos em atos infracionais é complexo devido à sua multicausalidade e exige aprofundamento sobre adolescência,relações familiares, nuances do mundo contemporâneo e o acesso aos bens e ao consumo, também a saída do adolescente pelo ato infracional. A clínica psicanalítica, ao oferecer ao sujeito um espaço de escuta, colabora para a construção de novas formas de existência que não sejam pela via da transgressão à ordem social.

Transformational Processes in Clinical Psychoanalysis Dreaming, emotions and the present moment , de Lawrence J. Brown

Transformational Processes in Clinical Psychoanalysis Dreaming, emotions and the present moment , de Lawrence J. Brown

A spoonful of sugar: Medication and the psychoanalytic body

This article employs a Lacanian framework to re-visit the vexed relationship between psychoanalysis and medication, which, it is claimed, also pertains to debates about the status of the psychoanalytic body. Whilst acknowledging the importance of critiques of ‘Big Pharma’, the article makes the case for a different approach. It argues both that ‘medication’ can be considered as a (dominant) discourse that extends well beyond the taking of pills, and, relatedly, that the psychoanalytic clinic reveals the ways in which subjects can make use of medication in often creative and productive ways. It does so partly via a brief clinical vignette and partly through a reflection on the issues raised in an article by the French Lacanian psychoanalyst Eric Laurent, which posits four libidinal modes of medication: the pharmakon, the placebo, the ‘surplus of life’ and anaesthetics. Overall, the article argues that while psychoanalysts must not work for ‘Big Pharma’, they can support the uses to which some subjects put the products of ‘Big Pharma’.

Clínica-Palavra-Corpo: Afirmar o Que se Vive e Viver o Que se Afirma

O trabalho, construído através de um ensaio teórico, objetiva repensar a clínica psicanalítica a partir de problemáticas da sociedade atual. Pensando nas principais transformações sociais que afetam a subjetividade e as relações interpessoais, buscou-se identificar teorias e práticas que possam ser um contraponto ao desamparo contemporâneo. Voltando-se à escola húngara da psicanálise, foi possível investigar alguns conceitos de Ferenczi, de Winnicott e de Balint que propõem uma clínica afetiva e uma relação menos hierárquica entre analista e analisando. De tal maneira, proporcionando sustentação e possibilitando experiências de “novo começo”. Além disso, trabalhando com a ideia de promover um modo de vida que faça sentido ao sujeito, realizou-se uma aproximação com os conceitos de cuidado de si e parresía de Foucault. Desse modo, integrando o entendimento psicanalítico ao olhar para si e à coragem de escandalizar a verdade no próprio corpo e na existência, buscou-se construir uma clínica crítica e criativa.

The inner world of Beethoven’s ninth symphony: Masculine and feminine?

ABSTRACTIn this paper, I explore the principal model within classical Western music, the sonata form, in terms of its gendered narratives. Susan McClary, an eminent American musicologist, started to do this in the 1980s as part of her forceful feminist critique of academic musicology and the music considered to be “great” within the Western classical music canon. She has been especially critical of much of Beethoven’s music, particularly the Ninth Symphony, which, along with other major works, she considers to be structured along patriarchal lines, actively if unconsciously promoting the values of patriarchy, overflowing with male violence and female subordination, its narrative primarily based on phallic sexuality. Her influence has been very considerable in musicology. I set out her case and critique it psychoanalytically, but in so doing I also set out my own theory of sonata form and Beethoven’s music as imbued with, and expressive of, a bisexual narrative. As Beethoven’s forceful masculinity has long been recognized, I particularly emphasize and illustrate his musical femininity. I also discuss and employ theories of countertransference and Oedipal configurations in relationship to Beethoven’s music in particular, and in general the links between Western classical music and the musicality of ordinary clinical psychoanalysis.

La angustia: su acústica y su negatividad política

El presente artículo busca profundizar en las reflexiones psicoanalíticas sobre la condición de la angustia en el mundo actual. Para realizarlo, partimos de dos posiciones que se encuentran profundamente vinculadas: la clínica psicoanalítica y sus relaciones políticas. De esta manera, reflexionamos la idea de cuerpo como caja acústica donde tiene lugar la angustia como afecto y, paralelamente, la vinculación de los cuerpos en sus respuestas ante las demandas del sistema simbólico de la cultura. Nuestro recorrido pretende problematizar el lugar que ocupa el deseo y su ética en los márgenes del capitalismo y cómo se producen efectos a partir de las demandas simbólico-económicas hacia los sujetos.

Otherness in Autism: From the Fellow Human-Being to the Other Synthesis

Abstract The present article investigates an essential question raised by the experience of the psychoanalytic clinic of autism: otherness. The goal of this research is to establish the specificity and the variety of forms of otherness in autism. From the Freudian premise of the complex of the ‘fellow human being’ (Nebenmensch) to the distinction between this and the Other as a place of language, this research examines the forms of otherness that can arise in autism, such as identified by J.-C. Maleval. They are as follow: the autistic object, the double, and the synthetic Other. For this purpose, this paper finds support on life events narrated by autistics as well as clinical fragments from the specialized literature.

Hiperconectividad y Psicoanálisis

Objectives: Tackling problems and prospects of psychoanalysis today, this was hypermodern hyperconnectivity and new technologies, since in the psychoanalytical clinic by the impact of the hypernonnectivity new symptoms occur today and it is need that psychoanalysis continue to give support to the mental suffering of human subjects. Methodology: Make a crossing of the new writings of psychoanalysis and subjectivity in this era, hyperconnected and hypermodern recovering the foundations of psychoanalysis which were established by Freud, namely, the unconscious, the transfer, the free association and demand and later worked on by Lacan, who also addressed the complications that arise in the subjectivity by the use of gadgets, complexities instructed by Lacan in The Third (1974). Contribution: Point out prospects and problems of psychoanalysis currently in this hypermodern era and hyperconnectivity, to think the psychoanalytical clinic with new symptoms and modalities, since today we are invited to enjoy in many ways and the Psychoanalysis enables us to not feel guilty for not enjoy, by virtue that in actual life there is an ethical duty to enjoy (Zizec 2006 / 2013).

The training of the apprentice psychotherapist in a psychoanalytic clinic in Brazilian universities

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is one of the modalities of clinical care in psychology teaching clinics. From Freud to nowadays, psychoanalysis has conquered space in the uni-versities. Our objective was to theoretically discuss the academic training of the appren-tice psychotherapist in internships in clinic with a psychoanalytic approach in the psy-chology teaching clinics of Brazil. We observed that the training of the psychologist has extended to a heterogeneity of fields, encompassing the different modalities of care, ena-bling researches in psychoanalysis and extensions related to theoretical and methodologi-cal aspects. We concluded that clinical practice occupies a space in the academic field. However, much remains to be questioned since the vicissitudes of working with the un-conscious, in their potentiality, encompass possibilities and limitations. The constant re-flection about ethical dimension that permeates the practice in psychology teaching clin-ics should be present, guiding debates on the theme of training from the apprentice psy-chotherapist in psychoanalytical clinic.

On “asking for a kind of revolution” in clinical psychoanalysis: Winnicott’s concept of regression, care-cure, working within the realm of needs and creating new experiences

in this article, I will address the radical departure of Winnicott’s theoretical-clinical ideas from traditional psychoanalytic work, introducing a revolutionary change in clinical psychoanalysis – a transition from “extension” to “scientific revolution” and “paradigm change or paradigm shift” (to use Thomas Kuhn’s terminology of the “Structure of scientific revolution”, 1962). For me, these revolutionary ideas of Winnicott are profoundly important,theoretically and practically, as they provide a formative matrix and a mode of work and transformation that conventional psychoanalytic work does not offer (Eshel, 2013a, 2016, 2017a, 2019a, 2019b).

Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works

A interpretação, na clínica analítica, “deve ser poética”, diz Lacan ao poeta sino-francês François Cheng, quando do seminário L’insu que sait…. Muitos anos antes, em O desejo e sua interpretação, Lacan havia ressaltado o termo concetti, extraído de uma frase enigmática do fantasma dirigida ao príncipe Hamlet: Step between her and her fighting soul: Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works. Lacan reenvia o apelo do fantasma aos analistas, sugerindo, já naquela época, a poética como aquilo que bem poderia servir-nos para tocar esse espaço insondável do falasser entre ele e ele mesmo. Este trabalho investiga esses dois momentos, duplo canto do apelo à função poética na interpretação.

Sex Instead of Shattering: A Critical Exploration of Bersani and Laplanche

ABSTRACTThe term “ego-shattering” was coined in the late 1980s by the prominent literary critic Leo Bersani, whose writing on sexuality and psychoanalysis helped establish the theoretical foundations for a new academic interdisciplinary formation that, in the 1990s, would emerge within literature departments as the field of Queer Theory. While many clinicians acknowledge Bersani’s role in coining the term, there has as yet been a total absence of any substantive consideration of what it means for contemporary clinical psychoanalysis to import “ego shattering” from another, definitively “literary” and nonclinical, discourse. This article contextualizes Bersani’s term in his reading of Jean Laplanche, in order to observe how Bersani’s particular critical-theoretical agenda causes him to misread Laplanche, and to advance, as a result, an idea of “self shattering” that is fundamentally at odds with Laplanche’s metapsychological formulations.

Méthode de recherche hypothétique et processuelle

The current multiplicity of research methods in the field of clinical psychoanalysis runs the risk of advocating the superposition of models by abolishing antagonisms to better accentuate complementarities, sometimes giving the illusion of a methodological profusion expanding the field of possibilities. GoalThis article proposes to return to the epistemological foundations of these models, which invariably questions the adequacy of the selected scientific criteria. It aims to get rid of a syncretic drawdown that would otherwise contribute to the impoverishment of this structuring heterogeneity. The methodological principles derived from the experimental model are now becoming established in the field of human and social sciences. Far from challenging this model, this article nevertheless aims to question this hegemonic risk, or at least an increasing and imperative homogenization linked to the standardization of scientific publication, by examining the passageways that would allow a fruitful dialogue at the borders of psychoanalysis. MethodThe article questions the epistemological foundations, first, of two methodologies regularly encountered in the clinical field — the single case method and the hypothetical-deductive method — and then, of models historically derived from anthropology and sociology — grounded theory model and extended translation model. The latter share with our approach the concern for the defense and enhancement of qualitative research. ResultsThe tension between these different models is used to identify the contributions and limits likely to shed light on the specific epistemological issues, the choices of methodological operationalization, and the choices of exposure of clinical research results related to psychoanalysis. The article encourages psychoanalysts to find opportunities to structure their work around the maintenance of a homomorphism between psychoanalytic and research processes. These considerations lead us to focus attention on the conditions required to inscribe processuality and the maintenance of a theoretical-clinical gap at the heart of the clinical research method. In this way, the paper lays the foundations for a modeling of a hypothetical and process-oriented research method. This method is based on taking the complex and necessarily asymptotic apprehension of the unconscious into account. From this perspective, the writing phase has a dual function: on the one hand, it doubles the effects of processuality and of the “après-coup” of research; on the other hand, the choice of methodological exposure of the results must propose common conditions for debate within a controversial field. ConclusionThis article proposes a first step in the formalization of a “hypothetical and processual research method.” This method is likely to offer a narrative that integrates both the constraints related to the dynamics of the singular production of knowledge in psychoanalysis's clinical field and the constraints promoting a broader scientific debate.