Journal of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis

Adolescence: symbolic reorganisation, the gaze and narcissistic balance

Ruggero Levy — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0300

This article explores the vicissitudes of the subjectivation process in adolescents in relation to the difficulties of symbolisation characteristic of contemporary culture. In adolescence, narcissistic stability depends on the reconstruction of representations of self and objects. This involves the whole process of symbolic reorganisation. The article emphasises the importance of looking – seeing and being seen – during this period, and the extent to which the work of self-image reconstruction is based on it. To this end, a clinical vignette will be presented. In addition, the author proposes the concept of a special relationship between "mind and body" characteristic of this period of life. Finally, the author relates this process to the contemporary phenomenon of blogging on the Internet, attempting to relate it to the central theme of this paper, namely that this phenomenon can serve the need to be noticed in order to complete self-perception.

Trauma and the Wise Baby

Benjamin Kilborne — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0300

This paper expands upon Ferenczi’s concept of the wise baby and explores the dynamics of ignorance and compensatory ideals of wisdom as reactions to trauma and as manifestations of "double conscience", shame dynamics and Oedipal shame. Focusing on feelings of ignorance, of knowing and not knowing and their relation to trauma, the author elaborates on the dynamics of fantasies of wisdom, adumbrating implications for psychoanalytic technique.

Antoedipus by Racamier. Incestuality from within, or Narcissus's Sabotage against Oedipus

Veronika R. Ichetkina — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0300

Relationship with mother is the most important relationship in every person's life, laying the foundation for their entire mental functioning. Unfortunately, these relationships do not always work out well. One of the pathological scenarios is a symbiotic fusion relationship, colored by tones of incestuousness.

Many works by prominent psychoanalysts have been written and translated about the perniciousness of the protracted fusion relationship between mother and child. The author of this paper has focused her attention on only one concept on this topic, a concept not often mentioned in Russian psychoanalytic literature, but undoubtedly worthy of recognition and careful study. This is Paul- Claude Racamier's concept of incestuality and narcissistic seduction and the related phenomenon of Antoedipus – as Racamiercalled the primitive, archaic, characterized by ignoring differences and boundaries, anti-conflict and paradoxical level of relationship with the object, primarily the mother-child relationship.

The work provides a development of Racamier's ideas and a comparative analysis of Antoedipus and Oedipus by the psychoanalyst from his latest book L’inceste et l’incestuel. In addition, a translation of the “myth of Antoedipus” (analogous to the myth of Oedipus), written by Racamier as a “prelude and entertainment” is presented for the first time. “Myth” figuratively describes all the main components of this phenomenon – denial of origin and the phantasm-non-phantasm of self-generation, anti-conflict, paradox, silencing of truth, fusion with the primary object, exile of the third. The translation with illustrations is based on the 1980 edition by Petite Bibliothèque Payot.

«Depth perception», or The way to represent a couple

Evgeniya R. Bengina — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0300

This article describes the process of forming the representation of the father and mother pair in the mental individual. The factors influencing the development of the idea of a father and mother pair throughout the entire process of the existence of the psyche are studied in detail. Special attention is paid to the significance and influence of the mother, father and their couple on the formation of the idea of a couple in the psyche. The paper analyzes the factors influencing the impossibility of forming a representation of a father and mother pair. Among them, the destructive experience in relationships with mother and father, their couple, stands out. The article describes the possible consequences for the subject in the absence of representation of a male and female couple. The relevance of the topic is related to the material and justified. The question of the possible influence of the parents' divorce on the process of becoming a mother and father couple in the mental is also touched upon.

The connection between primal fantasies/fantasies and personality structure, as well as psychopathology, using the example of borderline personality structure

Elena A. Ruzhnikova — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0300

Based on theoretical and clinical research, the author of the article explores the connection between manifestations of primal fantasies/fantasies and personality structure, as well as psychopathology. The possibility of using the analysis of primal fantasies and fantasies as a diagnostic tool for determining personality type and the presence of psychopathology is also examined. Definitions of primal fantasies and fantasies are provided, along with a brief overview of the main primal fantasies and an exploration of the differences between primal fantasies and fantasies. The article further discusses the differences in the representations of fantasies among neurotic, borderline, and psychotic personality structures, aiding in a better understanding of the relationship between the development of fantasies, fixation points, and predominant defense mechanisms.The manifestations of fantasies in various aspects of borderline personality are examined in greater detail. Characteristic and leading fantasies in narcissistic, dependent, and depressive personalities are analyzed. Based on this data, as well as data from a clinical example, the author concludes that there is a connection between the manifestations of primal fantasies and fantasies and personality type, as well as the potential for using primal fantasy analysis in the diagnostic process of therapy.

Dependent Relationship: Perversion, Melancholia, Work of Mourning in the Dependent Relationship

Alena D. Ovchinnikova — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0300

In this article, the author considers the phenomenon of dependent relationships from the point of view of perversion: a surveyof psychoanalytic ideas allows us to distinguish key functions of perversion, including the strife against castration anxiety, early frustrations and injuries. For the purposes of the subject of research, perversion is seen as a substitution, a "neosexual scenario" in McDougall terminology, allowing the subject to deal with injuries and frustrations. As the foundation of relations, masochism is investigated, manifesting itself in its moral aspect with reference to the problem of the Oedipus, but also manifesting itself as a way to connect drives. The role of relationships with the primary object in choosing a partner and building relationships of the type under consideration is investigated based on the concept of narcissistic perversion by P.-C.Racamier. The question of the possible functions of the relationship, among which narcissistic integrity, the strife against castration anxiety, as well as the implementation of the drive to the integration of early experience is analyzed in connection with the possibility of ending the relationship and the subsequent work of mourning.

Applying of Psychoanalytic Counseling Techniques to Deal with the Impostor Phenomenon

Anna Yu. Rakovskaia — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0300

The article is devoted to the study of the problems of the impostor phenomenon in psychoanalytic counseling and coaching – psychological phenomenon is considered in which a person is not able to appropriate his achievements and suffers from a constant fear of being discovered as a "deceiver" or “impostor”. The author analyzes approaches and concepts to the study of the impostor phenomenon, considers its core manifestations, causes of occurrence. The interrelationships of the impostor phenomenon with the problems of narcissism and depression are revealed. The manifestations of the phenomenon within the framework of the organization are studied, two cases from personal practice are given. The study confirms the hypothesis that the use of the psychoanalytic method of counseling and coaching allows clients to start reflection and awareness of the inner experience caused by the manifestations of the impostor phenomenon, which positively affects their self-esteem. This approach is effective both in individual work with clients with a pronounced impostor phenomenon, and in the format of group work within a company.

Adaptation of immigrants in a new culture through the creation of a new cultural and linguistic envelope

Dragana D. Vranješ, Olga V. Chekunkova — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0300

This article explores the phenomenon of migration and adaptation in a new culture from a psychoanalytic perspective as a grieving process and the loss of a native cultural identity, as well as the creation of a new psychic skin through a formation of a new cultural and linguistic envelope. Migration is seen as a mental trauma due to the loss of home, cultural values and language as a means for communication. This article can be used in psychoanalytic practice when working with patients experiencing difficulty adapting to a new environment. The empirical data obtained as a result of this study revealed that the nature of the relationship with one’s primary objects has a major effect on the process of forming a new identity, the duration and success/failure of a grief process and subsequent adaptation to a new culture.

Forming a Business Partnership: Psychoanalytic Aspects

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0300

Most Russian entrepreneurs conduct business in partnership. This is understandable, because from an economic point of view there are many advantages: increased opportunities to attract resources, joint efforts to achieve business goals, distribution of risks.
In addition to purely business aspects, the system of business partnerships contains complex psychological and emotional mechanisms that influence their psychodynamics. These mechanisms influence decision making, leadership effectiveness, and the quality of relationships. Many business partnerships face conflicts and fall apart.

The pandemic period gave rise to therapy for couples of business partners in Silicon Valley. In Russia, there has also been an increased demand for improved interaction in business partnerships. In response to this request, the Skolkovo School of Management launched the Tandemocracy program; and lawyers are developing the format of partnership sessions, where business partners agree on formal and informal terms for doing business together.

We hypothesized that the formation and dynamics of business partnerships are influenced by partners' unconscious fantasies and decided to test this hypothesis through a series of exploratory coaching sessions.
Unfortunately, there is practically no psychoanalytic literature devoted to business partnerships. Therefore, the approach we chose to conduct the study was based on psychoanalytic theories and techniques used in family therapy.

These techniques were synthesized into a framework, which we tested on 13 pairs of business partners and made a psychoanalytic interpretation. Based on the results, an approach was formed, on the basis of which a new method for working with entrepreneurial couples can be developed in the future.