Imaginary Transitions and Transformation in Psychoanalytic Work

Psychoanal Rev. 2016 Apr;103(2):145-67. doi: 10.1521/prev.2016.103.2.145.

Abstract

This article explores the transformations that occur in analytic work from methodological, topographical, and dynamic perspectives, with a particular emphasis on the concept of imaginary transition. Through a theoretical exploration and the presentation of clinical material from five cases, the authors show how the process of working-through emerges in treatment as a result of the changes of rhythm, register, images, phenomena of upheaval, and the numerous displacements that are brought about in and through transference. Events are only markers or clues about a transformation that takes place over the long term.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Imagination*
  • Physician-Patient Relations
  • Psychoanalysis*
  • Psychoanalytic Theory*
  • Transference, Psychology