Unconscious Dimensions Research Articles

Authenticity and the Psychology of Choice in the Analyst

There is a growing appreciation of an ethic of authenticity in analytic technique, a trend related to a recognition of the engagement of the spontaneous, unconscious dimension of the analyst's mind in the clinical situation. This liberatory trend in our theory of technique can and should be elaborated to take account of situations in which the analyst deliberately and strategically attempts to influence the patient for both analytic and therapeutic purposes. There is a complex, dialectical relationship between intentionally planning to provide mutative relational experiences for a patient and the irreducible emotional responsivity that marks every analytic encounter. It is suggested that the dangers of the patient's compliance with and idealization of the analyst usually associated with the analyst's deliberate enacting of attitudes presumed to be mutative are not necessarily inevitable.

La construcción del personaje en Cervantes

Human identity is not given and stable, but constantly under construction. Reality can only be known indirectly, through some form of representation. There is no essential difference between the categories of literary character (personaje) and real person (persona). Both are construed by a reader/observer, on the basis of observable, verifiable data (“text,” “discourse,” “signifier”) and reasonable inference of aspects not visible on the surface (“story,” “signified”). An unconscious dimension can be inferred (construed) for verisimilar literary characters as for real people. Literary characters are composed of properties of “discourse” and properties of “story” supplied by readers both within and outside the text. Within texts, characters are constructed by themselves, their fellow characters, and their narrators. Examples are Belica/Isabel and Pedro in Pedro de Urdemalas, and Cardenio in Don Quijote I, leading to Don Quijote himself and his overdetermined self-fashioning. Outside the text, characters are constructed by authors and then reconstructed by readers. Any reader's first mission is to reconstruct the “story” from the “discourse.” The author-textual person-reader relationship is studied in relation to Don Quijote (fiction) and “Serbantes” of the 1580 Información de Argel (fact).

Developing Models of Feminist Pastoral Counseling

Proposes that feminist pastoral counseling brings into focus the patriarchal context which conditions much of life, including a great deal of traditional psychotherapeutic theory. Claims that empowerment and liberation ought to be the goals of pastoral counseling; and that the model of pastoral counseling proposed by Merle Jordan fits well a feminist perspective, one which treats seriously the unconscious dimensions of patriarchy—a patriarchy which has led to the violation of the sacred.

The Multilevel Conception of Intentionality: Implications for counselor training

Abstract Counseling training programs have failed to differentiate between and among behavioral, cognitive, and unconsciousness dimesnsions. This omission has resulted in confusion and competition in many counseling curricula in that valuable programs are competing for space rather than being integrated systematically. This article proposes a multilevel model of intentionality which integrates the several aspects of the counselor-client relationship. In turn, this integration of behavioral, cognitive, and unconscious dimensions will have important applications in counselor daily practice.

Redecision Analysis of Transference: The Unconscious Dimension

This article discusses the importance of the unconscious dimension in a clinical methodology linked to Berne's frame of reference. An overview of the psychodynamic approach co-developed by the author is presented.

The Relationship Between Person-Role Conflict and Systemic Dysfunction

The nature and consequences of conflicts between roles and the persons who occupy them are explored. Two case studies focus on systems in which such conflicts were salient: a program for the education of gifted children and a private psychiatric hospital. The public, private, and unconscious dimensions of various roles within each system are examined, as are the resultant role relations in each setting. The importance of the interface between and among the different dimensions of roles within organizations is emphasized.

Projective Identification in the Consulting Relationship: Exploring the Unconscious Dimensions of a Client System

This paper explores the impact of projective identification on consulting relationships. The concept of projective identification, drawn from psychoanalytic literature, is used to elucidate the ways in which the dynamics within consulting teams comes to mirror important and unconscious aspects of the client system. Attention to this process thus provides opportunities for understanding important dynamics of the client system which are often inaccessible through more traditional modes of social science inquiry. It is often that these unrecognized, implicit forces can emerge in the course of an intervention and undermine attempts at collaborative social change. Three case examples illustrate the operation of this process, and finally a discussion of the practical implications of attending to it is offered.