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This paper argues that the distinction between the dynamic and the descriptive unconscious is in danger of being lost and indicates some of the practical, clinical consequences of this loss. It does so against the background of Freud’s own struggles with his radical conception of the dynamic unconscious as ultimately unknown, as they appear in the revisions of The Interpretation of Dreams, invoking Laplanche’s recognition of Freud’s Copernican Revolution and the temptation he felt to make a Ptolemaic Return. It also comments on confusion about whether feelings can be said to be unconscious and the implications of this confusion for clinical practice, especially for our understanding of the concepts of transference and countertransference. An extended analysis of a dream is presented to show the dynamic unconscious in action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One essential albeit often neglected aspect of dreams is that we dream in images. Freud repeatedly emphasized the hallucinatory quality of dream images: the dreamer does not see the images, but experiences them. Without the experiential character of the dream, there would be no wish fulfillment, because it is the appearance of the real that the wish needs. In this way, the hallucinatory dream image is the guardian of the wish. The body image is of extraordinary importance in dreams. Through such dream images, the analyst can gain insight into their patients’ unconscious representations of their body. If the patient manages to accept these rejected ideas as their own, the dream can become a transitional object for them. Crucial to this process are the sensations that have been incorporated into the body images and become incapacitated. What remains of these dormant sensations can be aroused through analytical work. Gradually, the autoerotic cathexis of the previously rejected body images becomes possible. This deepens the patient’s capacity to be alone. These reflections are elaborated in this paper with the help of various patients’ dreams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I will try to show how the chimera, as I understand it, is the result of an unsettling encounter between the traumatic traces of the two protagonists, culminating in a process of reverie, a process, indeed, of hallucinatory emergence, in which a creature emerges from the emotional embers of their traumatic clay. Although I take up Michel de M’Uzan’s notion of depersonalization, I would like to show how my understanding of a chimera filled with sensory qualities is different from his. Back in 2016, I spoke of the unconscious and clandestine agreement of the traumatic traces of both protagonists, from which I think it emerges. This conception seemed to me to reposition the question of the subjective and intersubjective effect of the two protagonists in the session, reaching into their deepest interior, since this »mythical creature«, to use de M’Uzan’s words, emerges from in between them during the analyst’s reverie, expanding into depersonalization. Not only does it arise from the dispositif that contains the emotional truth of the patient and of the analyst, but it also completes the attainment of O, that ultimate reality by which the analyst abolishes their ego by becoming one exclusively with the emotions of the patient. In the first section I will discuss in detail the metapsychology from which de M’Uzan recasts his conception of the chimera, followed by that of James Grotstein, who insists on the agency of projective identification, and finally I will address de M’Uzan’s challenge to the Kleinian approach through his conception of the »vital-identital«, which delineates a field of self-preservation infused with unheard-of energies. With the help of an example, I will try to show that when this creature emerges from the very deepest intimacy of each couple, it comes from the greatest distance and mixes the species based on what is most affective in the transitional characters of the infantile. I will follow a path that connects the Freudian memory traces of 1896 with Bion’s rejection of memory in the session in favor of O – that ultimate reality achieved through the experience of oneness or »at-one-ment« when the analyst, confronted with the patient’s emotional experience, draws on his or her own corresponding emotional resources. Evidence for this will be provided by a detailed example of a chimera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the commentary by Jutta Gutwinski-Jeggle, the intuitive imagination of psychoanalyst Johannes Picht is discussed, who noticed a striking coincidence between his idea and a patient's narrative about a serious car accident. The author raises the question of how this coincidence fits with Freud's statement about transference and countertransference. She suggests that the story of the accident could be a cover memory that conceals an earlier, unconscious trauma. The joint work on defense mechanisms leads to a deeper relationship between the patient and the analyst. However, the psychoanalytic framework can be experienced as unbearable and attacked. The author concludes by emphasizing the importance of accepting the decisions of the patients. The text discusses various concepts and approaches in psychoanalysis, particularly in relation to truth and the representation of unrepresented states. It is emphasized that truth is constructed in the psychoanalytic process and depends on the relationship between analyst and patient. The text refers to various authors such as Picht, von Uexküll, and Winnicott to explain these concepts. It is also noted that interpretations and hypotheses in psychoanalysis should not be considered as historical truth, but as attempts to create meaning and continue living. [Extracted from the article]

Knowledge arising from the clinician’s bodily sensations and visual imagination are considered through a clinical example where disruption to the setting culminated in the psychotherapist developing temporarily incapacitating physical symptoms in the consulting room. A subsequent imaginative visualisation allowed the clinician to attribute meaning to the moment of rupture, thus allowing her to use this bodily reaction as a way of gaining intuitive insight into the patient’s emotional state. This process is understood with reference to Bleger’s (1967) ideas about the setting as an institution, Lemma’s (2014) work on the embodied setting, and Sapisochin’s (2013, 2019) notion of enactments as representations of psychic gestures. Another example from the literature is used to further the suggestion that the clinician’s visual imagination can sometimes be used to enable a differentiation from a fusional aspect of the transference – countertransference dynamic and thereby increase their understanding of the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comment by Jan Abram in the Yearbook of Psychoanalysis deals with the topics of transference, self-disclosure, and asymmetry in psychoanalysis. Abram emphasizes the importance of transference in clinical work and explains that it is asymmetrical and develops over time. He also discusses the role of the analyst's self-disclosure and the necessity to remain neutral. A clinical example of a patient named Emma is described, who suffers from relationship difficulties and self-hatred. The text ends with the question of whether Emma is angry at her analyst and how the analyst understands the concept of transference. It also highlights how Emma takes responsibility for her analyst's annoyance and apologizes for it. [Extracted from the article]

In the article "Transfer onto the body and the language registers of the analytic session: Commentary on Sebastian Leikert's The Analytic Attitude and the Unconscious of the Body," Riccardo Lombardi describes the significance of the body and the body-mind relationship in psychoanalytic therapy. Lombardi emphasizes the importance of the body-mind relationship in contemporary psychoanalysis and calls for recognition of the autonomous status of the body in psychoanalysis. The text discusses the connection between the body and the mind in psychoanalysis and mentions the encapsulation of traumatic experiences in the body. It is emphasized that a comprehensive approach is necessary to both the sensory and symbolic levels and that the concrete treatment of the real body should be taken into account in analysis. The author also criticizes the tendency to monopolize unconscious fantasies and systematic interpretation of transference, emphasizing the importance of keeping the present moment of the psychoanalytic session in focus. [Extracted from the article]

This paper examines the modes of contact and the developmental steps that came out of the high-frequency analysis of an isolated young patient and the corresponding counter-transference feeling of »closest distance«. With this concept, the paper examines the seemingly contradictory experience of both great closeness and vast distance in such a way that they can be viewed as complementary. The paper will examine this variable and emergent experience and will show how room for developing new relationship possibilities could develop out of the transference-countertransference experiences that take place in the communities and games available in the complex world of the internet. The question will be discussed as to how far the term hikikomori, coined in Japan for young people who have totally withdrawn from society, can be helpful in the treatment of secluded patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines the role of autistic reverie and sensory manifestations in psychoanalytic transference. Using a clinical case, it is shown how autistic reverie can arise suddenly and allow the analyst access to protomental areas. The study emphasizes the importance of sensory communication and the analyst's identification with the patient's emotional experience. The text also describes various types of transformations that can occur in the transference/countertransference situation and emphasizes the importance of the analyst's psychoanalytic attitude. [Extracted from the article]

In the article "Transference-Countertransference from a Bionian Perspective," Rudi Vermote discusses transference-countertransference from the perspective of Wilfred Bion. He examines various dimensions that Bion has developed and integrates them into a zone model of transference-countertransference. This model takes into account reason, the dynamic unconscious, and an undifferentiated, non-representable zone. The article demonstrates how these zones interact during a session and can open up new possibilities in psychoanalysis. The text describes the definition of a "hindering object" by Jeffrey Eaton. A hindering object is an internal object that maintains psychological pain, violence, and attacks, and blocks the possibility of accepting help and participating in analytic transformation. The text also explains Bion's model of psychic functioning and the use of the grid to capture thoughts and feelings in communication between analyst and analysand. It also addresses the transformations of the psychoanalytic object in transference and countertransference, which can occur differently depending on the level of transformation. The text also mentions the role of countertransference and how the analyst deals with the transformations of the psychoanalytic object. The text discusses the different roles of the patient and the analyst in psychoanalysis. It notes that in psychotic patients, the phenomenon of role reversal is even more pronounced. The text also describes the effects of the emotional field on the analyst's intuition and explains how transformations occur in K and O. It emphasizes that the analyst should remain in position K while the patient can be in positions L, H, and K. The text concludes with a zonal perspective on the transference-countertransference process and describes the three zones of psychic functioning: reason, transformation in K, and transformation in O. The text describes the different zones of psychic functioning and the significance of transference-countertransference dynamics in psychoanalysis. In the second zone, emotional patterns and images are perceived and integrated through dream thoughts. In the third zone, there is no distinction between inner and outer world, which can lead to a deep intuitive contact. An example is given where a dream of the analyst and the patient are surprisingly similar, suggesting a connection on the level of the third zone. The text emphasizes the importance of work in all three zones and the challenge for the analyst to open up to the non-representable third zone. The article describes the possibility of achieving a state of empty-mindedness in psychoanalysis, which is close to the third zone. This state, which includes no memory, desire, understanding, coherence, or senses, allows for change and healing. The analyst should blank themselves and be in a state of reverie to be open to spontaneous chains of associations. Through contact with the third zone, psychic changes can occur, and a deeper form of containment can be achieved. This approach enriches psychoanalysis and provides favorable conditions for work in the transference-countertransference field. The article discusses the phenomenon of transference-countertransference from a Bionian perspective. It examines various dimensions, including the field-matrix concept, the mentalizing approach, the appearance and transformation of psychoanalytic objects, and an approach to infinity. These different approaches are integrated into a zone model. [Extracted from the article]

The article "The End of Transference: A Contemporary Freudian Perspective" describes the work of a member of the British Contemporary Freudian Tradition. The author examines the end or purpose of transference and argues that the goal of transference is to end it, at least in its most problematic forms. They discuss key concepts such as transference, compulsive repetition, the analyst as a new object of development, and the real relationship. The article concludes with thoughts on the analyst's hope, which manifests in psychoanalysis as a developmental process in which transference plays a central role. [Extracted from the article]

The article "A Look at the Interpretation of Transference from a Freudian-Kleinian Perspective and Why Only This Change Can Be Achieved Through Analysis" explains why, from a Kleinian perspective, only the interpretation of transference can bring about analytical change. It elucidates the Kleinian understanding and use of transference interpretation in comparison to alternative practices. It demonstrates how the Kleinian approach to transference is connected to a specific Freudian-Kleinian perspective on truth and the role of analysis. Clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate the ideas. [Extracted from the article]

The article "Editorial" in the Yearbook of Psychoanalysis deals with the concept of transference in psychoanalysis. The term transference originates from Sigmund Freud and refers to the transfer of unconscious ideas onto another person, especially the doctor. The understanding of transference has changed over time and has been associated with interpersonal dynamics and the concept of the object. The article contains contributions from various authors who present their understanding of transference. Different interpretations and approaches to psychoanalytic theory are discussed. [Extracted from the article]