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| Research article summary (published 30 Jan 2009): |
'Can you push a camel through the eye of a needle?' Reflections on how the unconscious speaks to us and its clinical implications.
Full Abstract
There has been a recent surge of interest in a type of thinking seen in some patients most of the time, and all patients some of the time. In the past it was simply called regressive thinking, but attempts to be more specific have led it to be called by various names, like 'pre-symbolic', 'pre-conceptual' and 'pre-operational'. What these labels attempt to capture is that the patient's thinking, at these times, is without representations and closer to actions. As a clinical phenomena I prefer to use Loewald's term, 'action-language', that is, where words become attempts to bore, seduce, anger, etc. It is different from when words are used to communicate internal states via free association. A case is made for action-language being the primary method by which the unconscious speaks to us in psychoanalytic treatment. This paper explores some of the reasons for this type of thinking, along with the clinical methods to find the thinker where there appears to be none. Distinctions will be made as to the use of the process versus the content, on the goal of interventions as bringing insight versus the capacity for insightfulness, and the model of treatment as leading to transformations in thinking, rather than lifting of repressions. A clinical example is presented to demonstrate these perspectives.
Author information
Author/s: Busch, Fred (F);
Affiliation: PINE, 246 Eliot Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-1447, USA. drfredbusch(-atsign-)comcast.net
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Case Reports; Journal Article
Journal: The International journal of psycho-analysis (Int J Psychoanal), published in England. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2009-Feb; vol 90 (issue 1) : pp 53-68
Dates: Created 2009/02/27; Completed 2009/05/11; Revised 2009/09/18;
PMID: 19245570, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/18/2009, IMS Date: 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
Comments and Corrections
CommentIn: Int J Psychoanal. 2009 Aug;90(4):905-6. (PMID: 19709032)
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