Document Detail


Boundaries of timelessness. Some thoughts about the temporal dimension of the psychoanalytic space.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  2753611     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The psychoanalytic situation can be usefully observed from the perspective of its specific temporal structure, consisting of a complex inter-connexion of different temporalities. I stress the importance of interpreting the mental events happening around the temporal boundaries between the analyst's consulting room and the outside world. Time plays a key role in psychoanalysis--a process which is always terminated, while being intrinsically interminable--because bringing about change is one of its fundamental therapeutic functions and because the transference operates according to temporally-determined mechanisms, such as regression and repetition, involving the actualization of aspects of the past in the present. I use the expression 'contrast of temporalities' to describe a fruitful and therapeutic conflict between the strict time limitations imposed upon the setting by analytic technique, on the one hand; and, on the other, the atmosphere of timelessness so often characterizing the experience of psychoanalysis, both as a whole and within individual sessions. I trace the roots of this timelessness to the original experience of unidimensional time ('infantile omnipresent'), which is in turn related to the timeless quality of our unconscious life.
Authors:
A Sabbadini
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  The International journal of psycho-analysis     Volume:  70 ( Pt 2)     ISSN:  0020-7578     ISO Abbreviation:  Int J Psychoanal     Publication Date:  1989  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1989-08-31     Completed Date:  1989-08-31     Revised Date:  2004-11-17    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  2985179R     Medline TA:  Int J Psychoanal     Country:  ENGLAND    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  305-13     Citation Subset:  IM    
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Freudian Theory
Humans
Psychoanalytic Interpretation*
Psychoanalytic Theory
Psychoanalytic Therapy / methods*
Time Perception*
Unconscious (Psychology)

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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