Psychoanalytic Principles Research Articles

Mechanisms of psilocybin on the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can develop after a traumatic event, causing distressing symptoms, including intrusive re-experiencing symptoms, alterations in mood and cognition, and changes in arousal and reactivity. Few treatment options exist for patients who find conventional psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy to be inaccessible, ineffective, or intolerable. We explore psilocybin as a potential treatment option for PTSD by examining the neurobiology of PTSD as well as psilocybin's mechanism of action. Based on both pharmacodynamic and psychoanalytic principles, psilocybin may be an underexplored treatment option for patients with PTSD, though further research is required.

Collective Trauma and Political Activism: Learning from the Bereaved Families of Shot Down Ukrainian Airline Flight 752

ABSTRACT On January 8, 2020, Ukraine Airline Flight 752 was shot down minutes after taking off from Tehran, Iran, by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. This happened hours after Iran had launched missiles at US targets in Iraq. Amongst the 176 people killed in this tragedy, many of them children, were 85 Iranian-Canadians who had traveled to visit their relatives in Iran. Over the past two years, families of the victims have struggled to find some healing from this trauma amidst political pressures in their fight to get accountability, transparency and justice for their loved ones. This paper is an account of group therapy sessions conducted over two years with these bereaved families, mostly mothers. I provide a detailed account of how relational psychoanalytic principles were utilized to develop a group psychotherapy model for dealing with this novice complex situation where the trauma is as individual as it is collective. For these families, grief and trauma is complicated by the sociopolitical issues surrounding the incident, including lack of transparency, dishonesty, insensitivity and absence of any attempts at reparations or reconciliation by the Iranian government in the aftermath of this tragedy. I examine how these political moments has come to inform psychological challenges of the group, including their emotions, dreams and fantasies. I further elaborate on how these experiences have transformed these individuals into political activists as observed not only in their individual and collective identities but also in their actual participation in the political arena.

Psychoanalytic Exploration of Identity and Loss in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss

This psychoanalytic exploration delves into the nuanced dimensions of identity and loss within Kiran Desai’s literary masterpiece, The Inheritance of Loss. By applying critical psychoanalytic concepts, this analysis navigates the novel’s characters’ intricate subconscious motivations and conflicts against cultural shifts and globalization. The study unveils profound psychological landscapes within the narrative by employing a methodology that combines close textual analysis with established psychoanalytic principles. The characters, such as Jemubhai and Biju, serve as focal points for exploring the depths of their internal struggles in response to external forces. Concepts like repression and symbolism become invaluable tools in deciphering layers of meaning embedded in the narrative, enriching our comprehension of their psyches. The Inheritance of Loss is a set of external events and a profound exploration of the human condition. Characters, shaped by their unconscious desires and conflicts, become mirrors reflecting the broader societal implications of cultural upheaval. The narrative becomes a testament to the intricacies of human existence amidst a rapidly changing world. This psychoanalytic analysis provides a key to unlocking the depths of Desai’s narrative, offering a richer interpretation of the novel’s characters and themes. By unraveling the psychological tapestry woven into the story, the study provides insights into the universal struggles of individuals facing the complexities of identity, loss, and cultural transformation. Through this exploration, The Inheritance of Loss transcends its narrative boundaries, inviting readers to contemplate the human psyche’s profound and often hidden dimensions.

Samrat Upadhyay’s “During the Festival”: A Psychoanalytic-Feminist Exploration of Desire

This research delves into Samrat Upadhyay’s short story “During the Festival,” collected in Arresting God in Kathmandu, examines the innate impulses shared by humans and animals within the modern Nepali society. Through a psychoanalytic-feminist theoretical framework, the study critically uncovers the subconscious projections of characters like Ganesh, revealing the complex dynamics of jealousy, sexuality, and familial relationships. Ganesh’s jealousy towards his wife’s emotional relationship with a young man in the neighbourhood reflects deeper insecurities about sexuality and societal norms and values in Nepal, while the neighbour’s displacement of his wife with his mother exposes the unresolved and conflicting issues stemming from the childhood experiences. Drawing on psychoanalytic principles, the analysis explores the themes of infantile fears and psychical metamorphosis, shedding light on the intricate interplay between individual psyche and societal constructs. By dissecting the text’s intrinsic characters and unconscious desires, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of human nature and societal complexities in Nepali literature.

Responding to Childhood Trauma: Developing and Learning from Collaborations Beyond the Consulting Room

ABSTRACT Whether within or outside of the psychoanalytic consulting room, when individuals or professional groups can recognize their limitations in addressing familiar challenges and have the opportunity to find partners to explore and understand the underlying sources of their distress, opportunities for new adaptive solutions emerge as well. Shared concerns about the challenges of violence exposure and childhood trauma formed the basis of what at first seemed an unlikely collaboration between psychoanalysts and other clinicians at the Yale Child Study Center and members of the New Haven Police Department. This paper will describe the development of the Child Development-Community Policing partnership and later, our engagement with policymakers. The story of how these collaborations emerged illustrates ways in which the application of the most basic psychoanalytic principles of listening, close observation, and collaborative learning led to the development of early intervention and clinical treatment that have helped to advance the field of childhood trauma. Mobilizing these collaborative efforts outside of the consultation room has, most importantly, led to a far greater number of traumatized children who no longer need to remain alone in the immediate aftermath of the traumatic realization of their worst nightmares.

Defense Mechanism as a Psychological Concept in Afro-American Novel

The life of average black man offshore African soil is fraught with greater challenges. The study concentrates on defense mechanism as one of the many psychological devices or tools, used ignorantly by Black-Americans as a means of earning their manumission or emancipation from white overlords. Many of these challenges could be both mild and severe, traumatizing and excruciating; causing great mental or physical pain. The extreme of these challenges is that, it leads to early death if the victim or the situation is not rescued. Against this backdrop, the study adopted the concepts based on the psychoanalytic principles established by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) whose theory of the psyche is often today in Eagleton’s Introduction to Literary theory (2005) referred to as classical psychoanalysis. This theory also combines with Lois Tyson (1999) African-American criticism to examine black families in black literatures from the psychological point of view. Cases of defense mechanism as a psychological concept are drawn out of four (4) Afro-American literary texts; Richard Wright’s “Black Boy” and “Native son”, August Wilson’s “Fences” and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Major findings are the psychological errors committed by traumatized blacks from their daily challenges and how the errors defined their lives in ruins and their identity as blacks. Major attention was focused on how those blacks were able to defend themselves and possibly gained their emancipation from slavery. The study focused on how the sampled-blacks faced and accepted the confrontational harsh economy and unbreakable political structure created by the whites. The classist nature of the social structure were also considered and how this affects or defines the limitations of blacks as second-class citizens in diaspora.

Ideology in Thompson’s, Kailey’s, and Robin-Coker’s collections of poems: A psychoanalytical exploration

This study employed psychoanalytic theory to delve into the ways Sierra Leonean poets Celia Eva Beatrice Thompson, Princess Mildred Kailey, and Kayode Adesimi Robin-Coker explored themes of despair, lust, and loss in their poetry. Addressing a notable gap in literary criticism, especially regarding Sierra Leonean authors, the research sought to raise the international stature of African writers and support students facing challenges with poetry in West African public exams. Employing psychoanalytic principles, the study uncovered deeper meanings behind the unconscious drives and emotions in these poets' works. It involved analyzing the occurrence of themes, detecting psychoanalytically significant lines and phrases, and identifying central themes and literary techniques used to express complex emotions. The analysis, which combined thematic and literary analysis, focused on the language, themes, and use of figurative language, diction, and other poetic devices in Thompson's 23, Kailey's 41, and Robin-Coker's 20 poems. This approach highlighted their distinct ways of depicting despair, lust, and loss. By integrating thematic analysis, the study offered a more profound comprehension of each poet's style. Ultimately, this psychoanalytic exploration aimed to enhance critical interpretation skills and helped in understanding the deeper psychological aspects of Sierra Leonean and other African poetry.

Shame and Self-Alienation: A Trauma-Informed Psychoanalytic Perspective

ABSTRACT Self-alienation is an expression of deeply internalized shame. The self-alienated individual feels trapped, imprisoned by shame. Psychotherapy patients with significant relational trauma typically reveal a persistent internal battle against self-doubt, self-condemnation, and often self-loathing. They are referencing shameful fears and beliefs about themselves that are born from problematic attachment and developmental experiences. The author provides illustrations of work with self-alienated individuals integrating psychoanalytic principles with concepts from contemporary traumatology, with a focus on helping patients develop self-compassion as the chief agent of therapeutic healing and growth.

Leaving Home: Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”

ABSTRACT This article will explore some of the ways I conceptualize music as it pertains to the concept of “home,” and specifically here, about leaving home. Using composer Sergei Prokofiev’s music in his well-known beloved composition, Peter and the Wolf, I will illustrate the gradual integration and consolidation of identity in the eponymous character, Peter, as he left his childhood garden home. Thus, the analysis of music itself as a primary source of psychoanalytic data is the distinctive method of analysis that I bring to my interdisciplinary explorations. Prokofiev’s masterpiece Peter and the Wolf pertains to the following overdetermined themes: Music and psychoanalytic concepts hold enduring value as each informs and enriches the other. Music serves as an important entry into affect and unconscious processes. Music and psychoanalytic principles are relevant both inside and beyond the concert hall and consulting room and contribute to a nuanced understanding of our inner lives.

Fear, loss and disconnection: the emotional impact of the Covid-19 pandemic upon staff working in mental health services and how the organization can help – a psychoanalytic perspective

ABSTRACT This paper describes the work of a psychoanalyst working within NHS mental health services in the UK . The central contribution of a psychoanalytic approach within psychiatric care in offering a committed attempt towards understanding the patients’ presentation, rather than treatment primarily aimed at symptom control, is described. Beyond this, the specific contribution of psychoanalytic ideas in establishing a containing framework for staff, and how this strengthens the capacity of the organisation as a whole to contain anxiety and to metabolize complex projective processes is outlined. Examples are given with clinical illustrations of activities which enhance this capacity in ordinary times. The author then turns to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic upon staff and patients, describing how fear, threat and experiences of multiple losses have permeated all areas of our lives and activated primitive defences. The pandemic starkly revealed profoundly disturbing questions about our assumptions and habits, adding to the intensity and multi-layered quality of the anxieties evoked . Urgent attention has been drawn to our deeply problematic relationship with the natural world, our own habitat, and indefensible social inequities have been crudely exposed. Staff have been caught between their own fear, the need to contain increased disturbance in their patients, already struggling with fragmented and disordered states of mind, and pressures from an organisation under intense strain. The capacity of mental health staff to act as containers for their patient’s distress has been profoundly challenged and compromised. This paper outlines how the pandemic has highlighted the crucial role of the organisation as a container for anxiety and in supporting staff to do their work in mental health care. In order to strengthen this capacity during the crisis, the author describes how ideas derived from psychoanalytic principles were developed into guidance for NHS Mental Health Trusts during the early days of the pandemic . This guidance was adopted nationally by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and is summarised in this paper.

All that glitters is not gold: The application of psychoanalytic principles to community mental health

AbstractThis special issue on community mental health focuses on the ways in which several innovative mental health programs across the United States have risen to the challenge of incorporating psychodynamic principles into their clinical practice. Contrasted with these domestic programs are reports from a number of countries in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East in which local clinicians describe how community mental health programs in their countries are tackling these issues. In this introduction, we emphasize factors common to the populations these authors serve, the organizational challenges they face, and the successes they achieve by way of their skill, creativity, and perseverance. We underscore the ways in which they articulate how psychoanalytic thinking, training, and practices have evolved in response to lessons learned and changing political, economic and cultural climates. We conclude that applied psychoanalysis, and particularly psychoanalysis applied to community mental health has, in some ways, been at the forefront of change in psychoanalytic practice in general. The modifications made by those in community mental health are viewed as necessary accommodations for both the communities served and for the psychoanalytic enterprise itself.

Ready to spar: Winning the hearts and minds of college students in the psychoanalytic classroom

Teaching psychoanalytic principles to undergraduates is a rewarding and daunting task. Due to societal biases and current academic trends, students arrive with a variety of implicit fears and wishes with respect to the course content. Syllabus development is a unique challenge because there are no standardized foundational concepts. Course requirements, most notably written assignments, are another facet of course development that each instructor chooses to suit their individual goals. This essay is based on 3 years of teaching a senior seminar on psychoanalysis. Data on 39 student course evaluations is described, analyzed, and discussed. Qualitative and quantitative data on student interest, preferences, and satisfaction are included to support the author's recommendations for student learning and engagement.

“Looking, Standing, Moving, Connecting, Thinking,” A Psychoanalytic Mantra Through the Lens of Dissociative Disorders: Commentary on David Levit’s “Somatic Experiencing”

ABSTRACT Responding to a deficit in the psychoanalytic literature on trauma treatment, David Levit contributes a way to interweave Somatic Experiencing (SE) with psychoanalysis in the treatment of highly traumatized and dissociative patients. I agree heartily with the need for interweaving and integration that Levit notes, but I add that other trauma/dissociation treatments, including treatment of dissociative identity disorder (DID), can be integrated as well. Especially for patients with dissociative disorders, dissociation-oriented treatments are appropriate. Finally, I describe how integrations of the type Levit proposes, including other trauma/dissociation modalities, if they are guided by psychoanalytic principles, can be properly considered psychoanalysis, and come under the rubric of “trauma-analysis.”

Pandemic fiction as therapeutic play: The New York Times Magazine’s The Decameron Project (2020)

This article explores the therapeutic potential of narrative fiction during a global health crisis. We focus on The Decameron Project (2020), a collection of short fiction by writers from around the world, commissioned by the New York Times Magazine. The Decameron Project references the narrative framework established by Giovanni Boccaccio in the mid-14th century, when the Black Death devastated Europe. Drawing on aspects of psychoanalytic theory and principles of bibliotherapy employed since the Middle Ages, we argue that The Decameron Project offers strategies to simultaneously confront and contain the anxious mind. Storytelling, according to both Boccaccio and to the editors of The Decameron Project, is not merely a source of distraction but a means of survival.

The rise of psychoanalysis in US hospitals: William Alanson White at St. Elizabeths, 1903-1937.

William Alanson White's views on the function and conceptualization of psychoanalysis shaped the practice of the analytic method in the hospital setting in the United States. Here I explore White's original work and maintain that his understanding of transference, the unconscious, symbolism, language, and defense mechanisms were rooted in both traditional intrapsychic and individualistically oriented conceptions and influenced by his orientation toward social psychiatry. In line with Progressive Era ideals, White considered the new science of psychoanalysis important for healing both the individual as well as society; this mutual influence helped shape the evolution of psychoanalytic principles and informed the treatment of patients undergoing psychoanalysis at St. Elizabeths Hospital.

Notes on working with divorcing and separating couples

Psychoanalytic couple psychotherapy has provided a rich body of work in relation to couple functioning. Simultaneously, the application of these principles to the field of separation and divorce has been underdeveloped. This article therefore briefly describes the work of a clinical service developed specifically for separating couples which adheres to the core psychoanalytic principles previously established. In doing so, important emphases emerge in relation to conceptualisation of the projective cycle, the therapist's internal setting, and the external setting and process of the clinical work itself.

Systemic Racism and Othering within Government Agencies: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Environmental Injustice in the Flint, Michigan Water Crisis

ABSTRACT The severe water emergency in Flint, Michigan between 2014 and 2016 was inarguably caused by systemic organizational dysfunction. The Michigan Governor Snyders’ Flint Water Advisory Task Force, in their analysis of the severe water emergency in Flint, Michigan, emphasized the degree of systemic organizational dysfunction, providing evidence that the agencies involved demonstrated a disregard for the poor and black citizens of Flint and participated in environmental injustice. The author traces, through journalists’ reports, e-mails between and among officials, first-hand testimony and the timeline provided by the Task Force, that the performance of the involved agencies (the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Michigan Department of Health Services) was tainted by systemic racism, Othering and by the dehumanization of Flint citizens the majority of whom were African American, and poor. The scandal was finally made public when a pediatrician showed unequivocal data on the alarmingly high lead levels in children who ingested the water. An organizational analysis based on psychoanalytic principles (Freud, Bion, Hopper) further supplements her observations that systemic racism aided and abetted severe systemic dysfunction.

A psychoanalytic view of reactions to the coronavirus pandemic in China.

The coronavirus pandemic, which apparently began in Wuhan in December 2019, and has persisted to the present day, has had several psychological effects in China. The real danger has produced prolonged stress. Large-group phenomena have been stimulated. Overwhelming affects generated by the real danger have led to regression in the stimulus barrier (or “filter”). The COVID-19 has also triggered unconscious defensive reactions, including obsessional cleaning, counterphobic behavior, humor, and denial. The nationally imposed home quarantine of millions of families has caused in-home conflicts and neurotic repetitions of unresolved childhood issues. Prior psychiatric illnesses have been exacerbated. Health workers, including psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychoanalysts, have experienced emotional depletion. Finally, in families where there has been infection or death, delayed mourning and post-traumatic phenomena have been observed. In each of these situations, different interventions based on psychoanalytic principles have been useful.

Psychoanalytically informed research interviewing: notes on the free association narrative interview method.

Following the development of the transdisciplinary field of British psychosocial studies, interest in the application of insights from psychoanalysis in qualitative research has grown in recent years among researchers in nursing and allied disciplines. To address a paucity of attention to - and lack of clarity concerning - the implications of methodological developments and debate around the application of psychoanalytic perspectives and techniques in research, specifically the theory and practice of research interviewing as a psychoanalytically informed endeavour. This paper draws from the author's doctoral research to provide a critical account of Hollway and Jefferson's ( 2000 , 2013 ) free association narrative interview method (FANIM). It describes FANIM's core elements and then moves on to consider its use by nursing and applied health and social care researchers, and then to criticism that has been levelled against Hollway and Jefferson's work regarding it. FANIM provides valuable ideas about how to approach nursing research in a way inspired by psychoanalytic principles, but requires further evaluation by nursing researchers. Nurse researchers may take inspiration from particular aspects of FANIM. They should also reflect on whether they are mislabelling their approach as 'psychoanalytic' or 'psychoanalytically informed', if they only partly apply it.

El tatuaje en el mundo contemporáneo: un recurso significante para la subjetividad individual

En este documento se realiza un ejercicio de aproximación al esquema singular que conduce a algunas personas hacia la práctica del tatuaje, para ello se elige un grupo de supuestos del psicoanálisis para ubicar los procesos que permiten que el tatuaje participe de la construcción de la subjetividad individual. La propuesta aquí es que el tatuaje puede llegar a ser un eslabón dentro de una cadena más amplia de significantes, con lo cual se convierte en un mecanismo que soporta una búsqueda individual en la que el tatuaje puede posibilitar el desplazamiento de una metáfora.