Talks On Psychoanalysis

Are the limits of what can be said – the field of the non-verbal, the texture of affects, everything that resists symbolic capture – the true challenge facing psychoanalysis today? In her thought-provoking podcast, “The Body as a Pulsing Frontier”, Ema Ponce de León offers her particular view on the theme of the body in psychoanalysis, developed through her dialogue with Freud and with contemporar...

"Psychic Change and Enactment: Some Reflections" is the work that Ariel Liberman offers us, to examine psychic change from a relational perspective, placing enactment as a central moment in the analytic process. Far from understanding it as a mere technical error, he presents it as a shared repetition (by patient and analyst) that, through insight and the analyst's disidentification with the embod...

  "How does the psyche navigate the interplay of impermanence and resilience? In 'Vicissitudes of Transience', Jhuma Basak explores the concept of transience through psychoanalytic, cultural, and philosophical lenses, drawing connections between Japanese and Indian contexts. Through myths like Ajase and cultural forms like Bhatiyali songs, Jhuma Basak illuminates how transience shapes our relation...

    "What happens when we accept that impermanence is not a loss, but the very essence of life? In psychoanalysis, transience is often associated with mourning and the capacity to renew oneself. Inspired by Freud's 1916 essay and Japanese culture, Dr. Osamu Kitayama explores how impermanence can be a source of psychic vitality and creativity. Through myths like Izanaki-Izanami and traditional Japa...

  In this article, Christine Anzieu-Premmereur explores the relationship between compulsion and the body in childhood and adolescence. Using psychoanalytic theory, she analyzes how the compulsive repetition of self-destructive behaviors can represent an attempt to process and make sense of early traumatic experiences. The article highlights the importance of early therapeutic intervention in child...

"X". Calle Alcalá, Madrid. Photograph by Ana M. Martín Solar. With the evocative title “Once Again, the Mystery”, the Argentine psychoanalyst Mariano Horenstein poses the equally enigmatic question: How do we listen to the language of sexuality today? Through an exploration of the relationship between language and psychoanalysis and the historical transformation of the clinical paradigms that have...

In the wake of profound cultural change, the traditional image of the father has been destabilized, prompting renewed psychoanalytic reflection. No longer confined to authority alone, the paternal figure is now expected to embody both care and limit. What psychic space does the father occupy in the life of the child? In this episode, Heribert Blass explores fatherhood through a contemporary psycho...

The current social, political and historical context offers many difficult challenges. We have experienced up close and from a distance awareness of a remarkable number of challenges including the wars, political unrest, growing socioeconomic inequities, climate catastrophe, and human and animal suffering.  These times are also marked by polarized thinking, including among analysts, candidates and...

What happens when the analytic setting—built on confidentiality and silence—meets the institutional demands of psychoanalytic training? Can the frame of supervision truly preserve the integrity of the analytic pact, or does it inevitably put it at risk? In this episode, Ellen Sparer explores a central paradox in psychoanalytic formation: the tension between the confidentiality of analytic work and...

Medical interventions in fertility have transformed how people experience parenthood. How can clinicians navigate the intricate emotional landscape created by assisted reproduction? In this episode, Renata Viola Vives and Ana Teresa Vale explore the complex relationship between assisted reproduction and psychoanalysis, drawing from their edited book, "Pregnancy, Assisted Reproduction and Psychoana...

What challenges face the patient and analyst in constructing the analytic space? How can the analyst navigate the interplay of intense emotional dynamics to enable meaningful transformation? In this article, titled "The Analyst and the Patient: Building a Space for Thinking", Alberto Carrión García de Parada,  delves into the intricate process of building a shared analytic space. Drawing on his ex...

In today’s context of reproductive technologies, one has the idea that we might have more control over the process of reproduction. No longer necessarily linked to sexuality, reproduction and parenthood can occur in a multitude of ways, pushing the boundaries of what was not thought to be possible or acceptable.  These biotechnical innovations have not only changed the ways that one can become a p...

What is it that is so captivating about travel?  In Freud’s travel letters chronicling his experiences over many decades in different countries, there are the seeds of the advance of non-clinical experiences of psychoanalysis.  Travel takes us to another place with unfamiliar surroundings so that we might see anew that which we may otherwise take for granted.  Awe and beauty are often experiences...

What roles do the inanimate objects in the psychoanalyst’s office play in the treatment?  Paintings on the walls, bookcases, armchairs, carpets, sculptures, and of course, the couch are simultaneously objects of external reality which are part of the frame, and they may also become part of the internal reality of the patient.  Can these objects have an important effect on the progress and process...

How can neuropsychoanalysis help us to understand Artifical Intelligence? We encounter Artificial Intelligence everyday, which is modeled to a certain extent on human consciousness, and so AI gives us a view into what we know and what we may not know about ourselves.  In addition, we now develop our sense of self and others both within the virtual and material worlds – AI could be said therefore t...

How does a psychoanalyst grapple with the sudden impact of a traumatic loss in their personal life, and how does it reverberate in their professional capacities? How do analysts navigate the challenges associated with illness or the inevitable effects of aging? Moving beyond the various losses in real life, analysts face the challenge of dealing with the loss and mourning of their illusions—illusi...

What does a psychoanalyst do in his practice with his patients? How can we define the act of the psychoanalyst at work? It is this vast question that Bernard Penot addresses in this podcast, talking about the act of the psychoanalyst in the service of subjectivation. Referring to Freud's work on transference and then to Lacan's work on the psychoanalytical act during the years of student revolts i...

The place of sexuality in psychoanalytic treatment and training today: Can we observe a disappearance of sexuality in case reports and supervisions?      How does the evolving discourse on sexuality influence psychoanalytic practice and training? In an era where sexual dysphoria is seemingly on the rise, particularly among younger generations, questions arise about the current positioning of Freud...

Still Life with Fruit and Wineglasses on a Silver Plate , c. 1659-1660, Willem Kalf. Courtesy Mauritshuis , The Hague.   Why do some people seem unable to achieve full satisfaction in things? What keeps them dissatisfied even after achieving their goals? And why does the Ego persist in avoiding mourning and sticking to the same solutions? In this episode of the IPA Talks On Psychoanalysis podcast...

A plea for a third topicality. An intrapsychic representation of the intersubjective bond, even before the discovery of the object.   Can psychoanalysis be useful with infants? How can we think through concepts of metapsychology with infants? The two Freudian topics are in reference to the instances which are fruit of the completed intrapsychic differentiation process. How can they be useful with...

How can we think about the Oedipus complex today in a contemporary society beset by a crisis of ideals and the emergence of new forms of sexuality? Neurosis has not disappeared, but borderline states have become a prevalent adaptive mode in a world lacking solid authority figures and sinking into symbolic misery. In this episode, François Richard is proposing his concept of the distorted Oedipus c...

Our self is always there and present throughout our whole life. Despite the many social, environmental and ecological changes as well as the major bodily changes, our self remains one and the same throughout the changes of our life. Where and how is the temporal continuity of our self coming from?   Georg Northoff is a philosopher, neuroscientist and psychiatrist, holding degrees in all three disc...

What is the relationship between the mind and the body, and how does it shape our understanding of the self? In this episode, Rosa Spagnolo presents her reflections on the topic, published in her recent book, written with Georg Northoff. In the book, she delves into how out-of-body experiences can shed light on the complex dynamics between the self and the world.  She examines  the relationship be...

Happiness is humans' undeniable desire, but why does it seem so within reach for some, and so rare and difficult for others? What makes it possible from the psychic perspective? In this episode, Dr. Marion Minerbo shares with us, in a clear and concise voice, her studies on the aptitude for happiness. The author describes brief moments of happiness and from them highlights the psychic elements eng...

This paper was published in The Italian Psychoanalytic Annual issue 16, in 2022. The full text can be found on the publisher Raffaello Cortina's website : https://riviste.raffaellocortina.it/scheda-articolo_digital/stefano-bolognini/hidden-unconscious-buried-unconscious-implicit-unconscious-Annual_2022_7-3814.html   The Italian Psychoanalytic Annual 2022/16 https://riviste.raffaellocortina.it/sche...