The analyst on the couch: reflections on the analyst’s narcissistic vulnerability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70435/junguiana.v41i3.59Keywords:
narcissism, wounded healer, transference, countertransference, enactmentAbstract
This article discusses the importance of analysts reflecting on their own narcissistic vulnerability which is revealed through countertransference feelings provoked in the therapeutic relationship. Addressing these specific wounds and their origin in our personal histories is an important task that analysts need to undertake in order to avoid unconscious enactment during the therapeutic encounter. Idealized projections from patients contribute towards analysts remaining in the role of “good therapist”, which may be to the detriment of psychic growth and transformation of both persons in the dyadic relationship. Acknowledging our limitations and shadow dynamics can ontribute towards greater attunement to the intersubjective field between analyst and patient.
References
CHUSED, J. F. The analyst’s narcissism. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Baltimore, v. 60, n. 5, p. 899-915, out. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003065112456290
COLEMAN, W. Bringing it all back home: how I became a relational analyst. In: BROWN, R. S. (Ed.). Re:encountering Jung: analytical psychology and contemporary psychoanaly- sis. New York: Routledge, 2018. p. 129-145.
DeYOUNG, P. A. Understanding and treating chronic shame: a relational/neurobiological approach. New York: Routledge, 2015.
DOUGHERTY, N. J.; WEST, J. The matrix and meaning of character: an archetypal and developmental approach. New York: Routledge, 2007.
FORDHAM, M. J. Notes on the transference. In: FORDHAM, M. J., et al. (Eds.). Technique in Jungian Analysis. London: Karnac, 1989. p. 111-135.
GUGGENBUHL-CRAIG, A. Power in the helping professions. 3. ed. Washington: Spring, 2021.
HUBBACK, J. Depressed patients and the coniunctio. In: SAMUELS, A. (Ed.). Psychopathology: contemporary Jungian perspectives. London: Karnac, 1989. p. 23-43.
JACOBY, M. Reflections on Heinz Kohut’s concept of narcissism. In: SAMUELS, A. (Ed.). Psychopathology: contemporary Jungian perspectives. London: Karnac, 1989. p. 139-56.
______. Shame and the origins of self-esteem: a Jungian approach. New York: Routledge, 2002.
______. Jungian psychotherapy and contemporary infant research: basic patterns of emotional exchange. New York: Routledge, 2004.
JUNG, C. G. Problems of modern psychotherapy. In: JUNG, C. G. The practice of psychotherapy. 2. ed. London: Routledge, 1993a. p. 53-75. (Collected Works vol. 16).
______. The psychology of the transference. In: JUNG, C. G. The practice of psychotherapy. 2. ed. London: Routledge, 1993b. p. 163-201. (Collected Works vol. 16).
KRAVIS, N. The analyst’s hatred of analysis. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, v. 82, n. 1, p. 89-114, jan. 2013.
MARODA, K. J. The analyst’s vulnerability: impact on theory and practice. New York: Routledge, 2022.
MITCHELL, S. A. Influence and autonomy in psychoanalysis. Hillsdale: Analytical, 1997.
PINSKY, E. The olympian delusion. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, v. 59, p. 351-375, 2011.
ROCHA, N. J. N. Enactment: modelo para pensar o processo psicanalítico. Revista Brasileira de Psicanálise, São Paulo, v. 43, n. 2, p. 173-182, jun. 2009.
SCHWARTZ-SALANT, N. Archetypal factors underlying sexual acting out in the transference/countertransference process. In: SCHWARTZ-SALANT, N.; STEIN, M.; WOODMAN, M. (Eds.). Transference countertransference. Chicago: Chiron, 1984. p. 1-30.
SEDGWICK, D. The wounded healer: countertransference from a Jungian Perspective. 2. ed. New York: Routledge, 2016.
WEST, M. Defenses of the core self. In: CAVALLI, A.; HAWKINS, L.; STEVENS, M. (Eds.). Transformation: Jung’s legacy and clinical work today. London: Karnac, 2014. p. 131-54.
WINNICOTT, D. W. Through paediatrics to psychoanalysis: collected papers. London: Karnac, 1987.
