Journal of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis

Revenge: A Psychoanalytic Perspective

2025-10-07T22:19:10+03:00

Revenge is a ubiquitous phenomenon known since ancient times, while in some cultures, retribution practices are even institutionalized. Despite this, there are not so many papers studying the wish for revenge and its dynamics from a psychoanalytic point of view. In this article, I make an attempt to understand and reconstruct the development of the wish for revenge at the metapsychological level. I have divided the dynamics of the wish for revenge into 4 stages, namely, “Ego injured”, “Ego telling stories”, “Ego punitive”

and “Ego spoiled”. In line with this division, the article consistently examines the prerequisites that determine a person's propensity for revenge, analyzes the manifest story of a person who craves revenge, the subsequent regression to the archaic omnipotent Ego and legitimization of the punishment of the aggressor object. In addition to this, the destructiveness of a persistent and intense desire for revenge is discussed. As a result, I demonstrate that by its nature, the wish for revenge is similar to the work of melancholy. This study may be of interest to psychoanalytic psychotherapists, whose clients' material refers to the topic of revenge, and / or those psychotherapists who have experienced revenge as a negative therapeutic reaction.

Melancholy аnd its Vicissitudes. Psychoanalytic Aspect

2025-10-07T22:25:16+03:00

Modern researchers define melancholia as a disease of the century, taking on a character close to that of a pandemic. The experience of loss is linked to the very conditions of human existence, the price to be paid for attachment to beloved objects. "Oblivion serves life," writes A. Green. With melancholy, however, grief becomes endless and inconsolable. The unleashing of love and hatred causes aggression and destructiveness to take over – melancholia becomes 'a pure culture of the urge to death'.

Considering melancholy as a XXI century phenomenon, a phenomenon of destructiveness, determines the relevance of this study. The article examines classical and modern psychoanalytic understandings of melancholy and its vicissitudes, illustrated by clinical cases. The main reflection of this study is that melancholia can have different vicissitudes. If the work of melancholy is not available, other solutions are possible – the work of hypochondria, the behavioural solution and the work of somatisation.

Game of Erotic Transference in Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy

2025-10-07T22:31:46+03:00

This paper explores the reasons why the discussion of the problematic of erotic transference is so difficult in the psychoanalytic field. An attempt is made to offer an understanding of the phenomenon of erotic transference and countertransference that could enable psychotherapists to work with them more confidently. This article describes erotic transference as one of the types of protection from experiencing real feelings and love for an object through playing infantile sexuality out by seducing a psychotherapist.

When death is a part of life. Grief work as a way of living losses in professional activity with cancer patients

2025-10-07T22:36:18+03:00

When death is a part of life. What mental processes encourage an individual to choose the profession of an oncologist and how psychoanalytic psychotherapy can help a person in a situation of daily loss. In this article we will consider the aspects of the formation of primary grief, primary erogenous masochism, the biological component of the death drive and the connection with the structural organization of the brain, consider oncology from the point of view of psychosomatics and the theoretical foundations of grief therapy, loss living in psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

The concept of white psychosis by A. Green and J.-L. Donne in the film J.-K. Lozon "Leolo"

2025-10-07T22:40:39+03:00

The article examines the concept of white psychosis by A. Green and J.-L. Donne through the analysis of the main character of the film J.-K. The Lozon "Leolo", as well as a comparative analysis of the characteristics of white psychosis in patient Z, described by Green and Donne in the book "L'enfant de ça. Psychanalyse d'une interview: psychose blanche" (Donnet, Green, 1973) and Leo's film persona in Lauzon's film "Leolo".

Moral narcissism and moral masochism interrelationon the example of the movie «Stalker» by A. A. Tarkovsky: a psychoanalytic view

2025-10-07T22:45:01+03:00

This article is devoted to the study of the phenomena of moral narcissism and moral masochism, as well as their possible interrelation. The development of psychoanalytic theory induces both the emergence of qualitatively new ideas and the transformation of fundamental psychoanalytic concepts. Thus, one of the modern trends is the confusion of similar types of pathologies, for example, moral narcissism and moral masochism. Such a transformation leads to the emergence of a new theoretical base, but, among other things, complicates practical work. Similar behavioral patterns behind both theoretical concepts can make initial diagnostic work difficult and limit the possibilities of further therapeutic help. For the purpose of practical demonstration of similar behavioral patterns inherent in these states, as well as an analytical approach to such cases, an analysis of the feature film «Stalker» by Andrei Arsenievich Tarkovsky, presented by him in 1979, is given.

Strong Women and the Exclusion of the Masculine in Post-Traumatic Societies

2025-10-07T22:49:27+03:00

This article presents a psychoanalytic study of the phenomenon of strong women in the post-traumatic societies of Russia, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Middle Eastern countries. The author analyzes how, as a result of military conflicts, totalitarian regimes, and social upheavals, a transformation of female subjectivity occurs, when women are forced to take on both maternal and paternal functions. This phenomenon can be viewed as reflecting of society's unconscious desire to restore the archaic integrity of the pre-Oedipal dyad by excluding the potentially traumatizing masculine element from primary object relations. However, there is also reason to believe that this regression to a pre-Oedipal state contributes, among other things, to the formation of new forms of subjectivity to overcome collective trauma.

Totem and taboo as a harbinger of the Oedipus complex on the example of a deep interview with a tribal native of one of the tribes of the Omo Valley

2025-10-07T22:53:43+03:00

The article provides an overview of the main theoretical points of view on totemic, archaic thinking, gives examples of rites and rituals, some of which the author observed and studied in the tribes personally, draws parallels between totemic and neurotic thinking. On the example of an in-depth interview with a native of the Hamer tribe, the author investigates the common and different in solving the cornerstone problems of separation and identification, including the edim conflict, the bearer of archaic thinking and modern, neurotic.

Fairy tale which shapes reality: psychoanalytical perspective on the pathology of the father igure and figure of the third through the prism of Little Red Ridinghood story

2025-10-07T23:01:20+03:00

Today psychoanalytic theory emphasizes the importance of the father figure in the normal psychosexual development of the child. The father's function is not limited to biological fatherhood, but includes a wide range of psychological and emotional aspects: the father is the one who separates the child from the mother, which is a necessary step in the development of the baby; represents external world and introduces such notions as distance and difference, which helps the child develop individuality and autonomy. The father is also a model for the child in the formation of identity as well as the development of symbolism. The oedipal conflict is one of the key points in the development of the individualwhich shows law and order, as well as prohibitions and restrictions. The father function represents by not only the father himself, but also by the function of the third which canmodify the dyadic relationship between mother and child. But what if the manifestation of paternal function is insufficient or pathological? How can this affect the development of the child? And can the symbolism of fairy tales and legends increase this negative impact? This article proposes to trace the development of psychoanalytic thought on the father's role and the role of the third, including pathological and compensatory aspects. The authors also study the symbolization of the ambivalence of the werewolf father through the prism of the wolf as the figure of the third in one of the most popular fairytales – Little Red Ridinghood.