Psychoanalytic Psychology

The allure of the patient’s objects: Countertransference pitfalls and possibilities.
During the course of treatment, the analyst may develop feelings and attitudes about the people in her patient’s life. She may feel angered by a neglectful parent, frustrated by an insensitive spouse, or intrigued by a glamorous friend. At times, the patient’s object world can be so alluring that the analyst may fail to recognize her feelings as countertransference reactions. This article will explore these reactions through the concept of countertransference to the patient’s objects and will illuminate how this aspect of countertransference can be particularly elusive. When this facet of countertransference is unanalyzed, countertransference collusions can form. This article will discuss ways for identifying these collusions so that countertransference to the patient’s objects can facilitate rather than impede the analytic work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Trans identity development and integration.
This article explores popular modern theories of trans identity development and proposes a new conceptualization grounded in psychoanalytic and transgender theory. Building on Winnicott’s (1960) theories of the true and false self to understand trans identity development, this author proposes the concept of trans existential dread to understand the tension between the true and false self for trans folks. These concepts are presented alongside clinical recommendations for exploring gender with all patients. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Mother’s disintegrative responses in the context of infant care: Clinical and empirical evidence of the role of empathy and parity.
The constant exposure of a mother to her infant’s primary experiences may be reflected in maternal disintegrative responses (intrusive thoughts and dissociative experiences in the context of infant care). In this study, we aimed to present a clinical case study demonstrating this process as revealed in therapeutic sessions with a new mother, followed by an empirical study examining the contribution to maternal disintegrative responses of background variables and maternal empathy-related components, that is, perspective-taking, empathic concern, fantasy, and personal distress. Israeli mothers (n = 415) whose child was up to 12 months old completed self-report measures tapping maternal disintegrative responses, sociodemographic characteristics, and empathy. We found that higher levels of the empathy components of fantasy and personal distress contributed to greater intrusive thoughts and dissociative experiences; higher empathic concern was positively associated with intrusive thoughts and negatively associated with dissociative experiences; parity moderated the association between empathy and maternal disintegrative responses, so that perspective-taking was associated with less intrusive thoughts among primiparous mothers, but not among multiparous mothers. In addition, the positive association between empathic personal distress and dissociative experiences was stronger among primiparous than multiparous mothers. The findings of the empirical study, together with insights from the clinical case study, expand the understanding of maternal disintegrative responses and highlight the characteristics that may contribute to it. The theoretical and therapeutic implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Intimate partner violence: Narratives of attachment relationships and linguistic analysis of emotional schemas through a quali-quantitative approach.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a concerning, widespread issue with serious health, social, and financial consequences. Previous studies highlighted the role of insecure attachment patterns in predicting IPV victimization. This study investigates attachment classifications among women survivors of IPV referred to antiviolence centers, as determined by the Adult Attachment Interview and compare them with a control group. Additionally, this study aims to discern variations in linguistic and narrative styles, utilizing referential process linguistic measures, between the IPV and control groups. Twenty-eight female survivors of IPV and 28 controls completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Adult Attachment Interview. The analyses revealed that 25% of the women in the IPV group exhibited a secure attachment style, in contrast to 78.5% of individuals in the control group. Furthermore, 75% of the women in the IPV group reported an insecure attachment (dismissing, disorganized, or preoccupied pattern), while only 21.5% of the control group displayed similar patterns of insecure attachment. Several differences in linguistic measures emerged between groups. The results indicated that women in the IPV group employed fewer positive affect words but utilized more concrete and imagery representations when describing their attachment experiences. This demonstrated a higher emotional involvement in their past attachment experiences and an endeavor to reflect on their past violence experiences. Current findings suggest that the attachment systems and attachment working model in women with a history of IPV were strongly activated during their admission for requesting help at an antiviolence center. These preliminary results may have important clinical implications. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Blighted phenomena: Learning to work with the dark.
Blighted phenomena are understood as derivatives of dark, lonely, injured experiences—those that are often difficult to put into words. These phenomena can manifest in innumerable configurations in patients’ presentations and in the specificity of their developmental struggles and language. The present article aims to describe ways of working with the darkness of blighted experience, through three case studies. These vignettes are interwoven with temporally encountered theoretical concepts and language-research informing their approach in order to create an example of the kaleidoscopic, multidirectional ways dyadic encounters, theory, and research in training can inform one another and continue to expand approaches to patients’ feelings of darkness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Review of Reading French Psychoanalysis.
Reviews the book, Reading French Psychoanalysis edited by Dana Birksted-Breen, Sara Flanders, and Alain Gibeault (2010). In this essay, the author discusses eight reviews of Reading French Psychoanalysis. The reviews considered are Cheshire (2010) in the British Journal of Psychotherapy, Forde (2010) in the Revista de Psicoanálisis, Glassgold (2014) in the Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Lefer (2011) in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, Reed (2012) in the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Ruth and Kahn (2011) in Division Review, and Verhaeghe et al. (2016) in the Psychoanalytic Quarterly. With the help of these eight reviewers, we see that Reading French Psychoanalysis can be taken on three levels: as a compendium of interesting psychoanalytic articles; as a dialectic between Lacan and other French psychoanalysts; and as one manifestation of a tension between agency and communion that has been part of psychoanalysis since its inception. It is challenging at any of these levels, probably best read where one’s interest leads rather than straight through, but at any of these levels, it is worthwhile. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Psychoanalytic Psychology - Vol 41, Iss 2