Reflections on Therapeutic Action and the Origins of Psychic Life

Abstract

Psychoanalysis has seen a shift in emphasis regarding therapeutic action and technique. A predominant focus on the uncovering or reintegrating of repressed, disguised, or split-off contents has moved to include the intersubjective creation, development, and strengthening of psychic processes and capabilities. The analyst’s role in this process has been analogized to that of the primary maternal object in the origins of psychic life. This metaphor illuminates the movement from unrepresented to represented psychic states in treatment, as seen in a clinical example from the analysis of a particularly withdrawn young adult.