La doble faz del superyó / La double face du surmoi / The dual face of the superego

A través de este artículo se recorre el doble origen y el doble rostro de la instancia superyoica que, si bien es la heredera del complejo de Edipo y, como tal, reguladora del deseo e instauradora de la ética, también se sumerge en el ello e interviene en diversos grados y modos en las diferentes patologías psíquicas. Desde esta perspectiva, el pensamiento clínico y metapsicológico que sustenta este trabajo se basa en la consideración del superyó como una instancia del borde que hunde sus raíces en la prehistoria del complejo de Edipo, en su doble vertiente paterna y materna, y en el distinto peso de lo traumático en la historia del sujeto. Tomando este vértice la clínica del superyó es concebida como como una clínica del borde sujeta al concepto de analizabilidad, altamente singular, cuya tarea esencial es interrogar/cuestionar los imperativos del superyó para poder fundamentar la moral a través de la transformación del imperativo superyoico en un postulado ético como efecto de la instauración de un superyó protector. (AU)

A travers cet article nous parcourons la double origine et la double face de l’instance surmoïque qui, bien qu’elle soit l’héritière du complexe d’Œdipe et, en tant que telle, régulatrice du désir et instauratrice de l’éthique, plonge aussi dans le ça et intervient dans des degrés et modes divers dans les différentes pathologies psychiques. Partant de cette perspective, la pensée clinique et métapsychologique qui sous-tend ce travail se base sur la considération du surmoi comme une instance du bord qui enfonce ses racines dans la préhistoire du complexe d’Œdipe, dans son double versant maternel et paternel ainsi que le différent poids du traumatique dans l’histoire du sujet. Partant de ce vertex la clinique du surmoi est conçue comme une clinique du bord soumise au concept d’analysabilité, largement singulier, dont la tâche essentielle est d’interroger/questionner les impératifs du surmoi pour pouvoir justifier la morale à travers la transformation de l’impératif surmoïque dans un postulat éthique comme effet de l’instauration d’un surmoi protecteur. (AU)

This article traces the dual origin and the dual face of the superego agency. Although heir to the Oedipus complex, regulator of desire and instigator of ethics, it is also submerged within the id and intercedes in varying degrees and forms in the different mental pathologies. From this perspective, the clinical and metapsychological thought underpinning this article is based on the conception of the superego as a borderline instance rooted in the prehistory of the Oedipus complex, in its dual paternal and maternal dimension, and in the distinct weight of trauma in the subject’s history. From this vertex, the clinical approach to the superego is conceived as a borderline approach, subject to the concept of analysability, highly particular, whose essential task is to question the imperatives of the superego as the basis of morality by transforming the superego imperative into an ethical postulate, resulting from the establishment of a protective superego. (AU)

SUICIDE: A PATIENT'S WISH TO KILL OFF "BAD" INTROJECTS AND THUS ACHIEVE REBIRTH.

Benedict came for treatment because he experienced severe self-deprecating feelings that tortured him. He felt commanded-by what he characterized as internal demons-to kill himself. When he did not do so, he felt humiliated for having been a coward. Simultaneously, he reckoned that if he died his demons would be killed off, but that he would arise brand new. Because Benedict had already "killed off" several earlier therapists, he needed someone who could feel his pain, but would neither die from his emotional storms, nor give up on him. With considerable mutual work, he began to identify with my dogged determination to both survive his fierce attacks and to locate the source of the introjected demons that viciously attacked him (and others). When his emotionally-driven storms finally ebbed, he combined forces with me and began the ordeal of overcoming his fears and relinquishing his delusional system.

Dying for love: An attachment problem with some perpetrator introjects.

This paper focuses on some problematic victim-perpetrator dynamics in psychotherapy with patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder where there has been longstanding multi-perpetrator organized abuse described, which also involves family members. Additionally, in this specific sample, there have been reported experiences of serious assaults from attachment figures in which the patient felt close to death. The clinical concern is expressed that only in the nearness of death is a connection felt to the attachment figure and this leads to extra suicidality in the patient and extra vulnerability to secondary traumatization for the therapist. This group faces not only relational betrayal dynamics with their reported external abusers, who provide toxic "love", but with internal perpetrators, victim-perpetrators, and victims too. The impact of an incestuous and rivalrous civil war in the body and mind that replicates the external system and is projected into the therapeutic encounter poses particular problems for therapists and patients. There are different problems for the treatment according to how the perpetrator-identified dissociative system is in need of a near-death connection.