Psychoanalysis in the multidisciplinary and surgical treatment of morbid obesity: A case study

Abstract

We assessed the psychotherapeutic process based on a Kleinian psychoanalytic approach as a contribution to improve the health of patients undergoing bariatric surgery. To that end, we performed a case study based on the analysis of a clinical vignette accompanied by a literature review. We analyzed excerpts of conversations of the psychotherapeutic process of a very obese 53-year-old woman who sought an institution dedicated to the surgical treatment of severe obesity relying on a multidisciplinary approach. After a diagnosis of morbid obesity, an initial psychological evaluation was performed. As an extension, a psychotherapeutic process based on a psychoanalytical approach took place once a week and then later twice a week. Two months after the first meeting, the patient underwent bariatric surgery. To date, the psychotherapeutic process has lasted for three years. As a result, the patient managed to get in touch with her feeling of helplessness associated with a destructiveness factor, which appears in narrative scenes of revenge, envy and jealousy. We conclude that the psychoanalytic process proved to be effective: The patient was able to preserve her constituent affective networks and became less vulnerable to anxiety and impulsivity, favoring reduction of obesity and avoiding situations of suffering such as alcoholism. Our observations confirm some references already mentioned in the literature.