"Not Without a Will; Not a Child; Certainly Not a Thing": The Birth of an "I". Issue 3 (1st September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Medina, Mia
• Is Part Of: Psychoanalytic perspectives. Volume 13:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 316
• Page End: 320
• Publication Date: 2016-09-01
• Subjects: intersubjectivity -- mutual recognition -- agency; Psychoanalysis -- Periodicals; Psychotherapy -- Periodicals; Psychology and literature -- Periodicals; Psychoanalytic Theory -- Periodicals; Psychotherapy -- Periodicals; Psychoanalysis; Psychology and literature; Psychotherapy; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 150.195
• DOI: 10.1080/1551806X.2016.1228909
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1551-806X

Abstract

Abstract : This paper focuses on Freud's subjective presence in the room as a major curative aspect in his one-session consultation with Margarethe. It is suggested that embedded in Freud's way of listening, active encouragement, and authoritative intervention, there was a mutual impact and recognition that may have created space for an experience of agency to develop within the mind of the patient. Whereas Freud's influence on the patient is obvious, a close look at the encounter illustrates that the patient felt that she had her own impact on Freud. In other words, in a not-so-classically Freudian way, Freud may have been (or allowed himself to be) touched and moved by the patient, which in turn fostered the development of her subjective self and the transformative nature of this one session.