Working with patients with disruptions in symbolic capacity.

This article focuses on understanding and working with patients who have poorly developed symbolic capacity, or for whom symbolic capacity has been disrupted due to trauma, particularly as it pertains to the use of reverie and interpretation in the analytic process. Many patients who present for Jungian analysis will initially present with deficits in symbolic functioning. This situation results in necessary limitations or modifications in utilizing traditional Jungian techniques such as dream analysis, active imagination, sand tray and other expressive art techniques. The initial phase of analytic work with these patients requires a focus on developing their symbolic capacity before traditional Jungian techniques can be utilized effectively. During the paper Jung's concept of 'the symbolic attitude' will be examined as well as the conceptual models of Wilfred Bion and other post-Bionians who outline theories and method for cultivating symbolic capacity and reflective functioning in patients for whom these capacities are impaired or poorly developed.

Cet article se concentre sur la compréhension et le travail avec des patients dont la capacité symbolique est mal développée, ou pour qui la capacité symbolique a été perturbée par le traumatisme. Ceci concerne tout particulièrement l'utilisation de la rêverie et de l'interprétation dans le processus analytique. Beaucoup de patients qui viennent pour une analyse Jungienne montrent initialement des déficits dans le fonctionnement symbolique. Ceci a pour conséquence des limitations nécessaires ou des modifications dans l'utilisation de techniques traditionnelles Jungiennes telles l'analyse des rêves, l'imagination active, la thérapie par le jeu de sable et autres techniques d'expression par l'art. La phase initiale du travail analytique avec ces patients requiert de mettre l'accent sur le développement de leur capacité symbolique avant que les techniques Jungiennes traditionnelles puissent être utilisée de manière efficace. Dans l'article, le concept Jungien 'd'attitude symbolique' sera étudié ainsi que les modèles conceptuels de Wilfred Bion et d'autres post-Bioniens qui présentent des théories et une méthode pour cultiver la capacité symbolique et le fonctionnement réfléchi chez des patients pour qui ces capacités sont déficientes ou mal développées.

El presente artículo se focaliza en la comprensión y trabajo con pacientes que han tenido un desarrollo limitado de su capacidad simbólica, o para quienes, la capacidad simbólica se ha visto perturbada debido a un trauma, particularmente en lo que se refiere al uso del reverie y de la interpretación en el proceso analítico. Muchos pacientes que se presentan para un análisis Junguiano, presentan inicialmente deficitis en su funcionamiento simbólico. Esta situación tiene como resultado limitaciones necesarias o modificaciones en la utilización de técnicas Junguianas tradicionales como el análisis de sueños, la imaginación activa, la caja de arena y otras técnicas artísticas y expresivas. La fase inicial del trabajo analítico con estos pacientes requiere hacer foco en el desarrollo de su capacidad simbólica antes de que técnicas Junguianas tradicionales puedan utilizarse efectivamente. Durante el escrito se examina el concepto de Jung de `actitud simbólica`, así como los modelos conceptuales de Wilfred Bion y otros post-Bionianos quienes describen teorías y métodos para cultivar la capacidad simbólica y el funcionamiento reflexivo en pacientes para quienes estas capacidades se encuentran perturbadas o poco desarrolladas.

Daniel: psychological development of a master biblical dream interpreter.

This article describes the growth and development of Daniel as a master Biblical dream interpreter. In his clinical use of dreams, he is compared to a contemporary Jungian analyst who faces difficult clinical dilemmas such as interpreting a dream that is forgotten, understanding the difference between a 'big dream' and a personal dream, as well as the situation when a dream is interpreted within a dream. Daniel's technique is compared to traditional Jewish dream rituals. Although the Book of Daniel is usually considered as a series of disconnected episodes, the author argues that the sequence of chapters reveals the process of Daniel's individuation as described by Neumann's concept of centroversion.

Cet article décrit la croissance et le développement de Daniel en tant qu'interprète biblique spécialiste du rêve. Dans son utilisation clinique des rêves, il est comparé à un analyste Jungien contemporain, face à de difficiles dilemmes cliniques tels qu'interpréter un rêve qui est oublié, comprendre la différence entre un « grand rêve ¼ et un rêve personnel, ainsi que la situation dans laquelle un rêve est interprété dans un rêve. La technique de Daniel est comparée aux rituels traditionnels juifs concernant les rêves. Bien que le Livre de Daniel soit généralement considéré comme étant une suite d'épisodes décousus, l'auteur soutient que la séquence des chapitres révèle le processus de l'individuation de Daniel telle que décrite par Neumann par le concept de centroversion.

El presente artículo describe el crecimiento y desarrollo de Daniel como maestro Bíblico intérprete de sueños. En su clásico uso de los sueños, es comparado con un analista Junguiano contemporáneo quien se confronta con difíciles dilemas clínicos, tales como, la interpretación de un sueño que es olvidado, comprender la diferencia entre un 'gran sueño' y un sueño personal, así como también la situación en la que un sueño es interpretado dentro del sueño. La técnica de Daniel es comparada con el ritual tradicional Judaico de los sueños. Si bien el Libro de Daniel es considerado usualmente como una serie de episodios desconectados, el autor argumenta que la secuencia de los capítulos revela el proceso de individuación de Daniel tal como es descripto por Neumann y su concepto de centroversión.

And the dish ran away with the spoon: a hodgepodge of reflections, as rigorous as they are rambling, on the true subject.

In this article, the topic of 'the true subject' is explored in terms of a dialectical mode thinking which is in keeping with Jung's great insight concerning psychology's lack of an Archimedean vantage-point distinct from its topics and subject matters. Evocative and expository, the emphasis is upon the performative poetics of such thinking within the sphere of our soul-making. The interpretative mode of practice presented in the article is richly illustrated with examples from Biblical texts, literary images, and proverbial sayings, as well as from the sur-real of nursery rhyme and the genre of the murder mystery. Essential insights of Jung's concerning the infinite and the finite as dimensions of self are revisited in terms of that contemporary trend of Jungian thought known as psychology as the discipline of interiority.

Disrupted narrative and narrative symbol.

In this article a specific type of narrative, which often appears in analytic sessions, is discussed. It is characterized by a seemingly ordinary, everyday topic and by a peculiar disruption of the narrative flow. The threefold structure of this type of narrative is described, along with its main characteristics. One element of this type of narrative is very similar to symbolic content or complex symbolic structures, e.g. dreams, the sort of material that can be used for the purpose of interpretation. The similarities as well as the differences are elaborated in the article. Thanks to the observed general structure and 'symbolic' nature of some parts of the narrative, it is easy to notice some of the unconscious elements, which are not familiar to the patient's ego, and to make an interpretation. Because these elements are close to the threshold of consciousness, the patient willingly accepts an interpretation based on them. This is especially true for patients whose dominant function is thinking. A temporary, working name for this type of narrative is proposed in the article: 'disrupted narrative' - and for its disruptive part 'narrative symbol'.

Boundary and analytic attitude: reflections on a summer holiday break.

The effect of a boundary in analytic work at the summer holiday break is discussed in relation to archetypal experiences of exclusion, loss and limitation. Some attempts by patients to mitigate an analyst's act of separation are reviewed as enactments, and in particular the meanings of a gift made by one patient. Analytic attitude towards enactment from within different schools of practice is sketched, with reference to the effect on the analyst of departing from the received practice of their own allegiance. A theory is adumbrated that the discomfort of 'contravening the rules' has a useful effect in sparking the analyst into consciousness, with greater attention to salient features in an individual case. Interpretation as an enactment is briefly considered, along with the possible effects of containing the discomfort of a patient's enactment in contrast to confronting it with interpretation.

The riddle of Siegfried: exploring methods and psychological perspectives in analytical psychology.

Jung's dream of the killing of Siegfried poses a riddle: why did the unconscious choose precisely Siegfried as the hero to be murdered? Jung himself declares that he does not know. This paper attempts to decipher this riddle using three distinct methodological approaches accepted by Jung, two of them in fact grounded in his theories of dream interpretation. Besides presenting some possible answers to the riddle of Siegfried, this interpretative reflection brings to light the discrepancy of the psychological perspectives created by the heterogeneity of methods within analytical psychology.

Two in one or one in two? Pushing off from Jung with Wolfgang Giegerich.

This paper responds to a recent paper by Wolfgang Giegerich entitled 'Two Jungs: apropos a paper by Mark Saban'. Giegerich disputes my assertion that the 'rigorous notion' at the heart of his psychology 'finds no source in Jung's psychology, implicit or explicit'. In order to do this he posits the existence of two Jungs, an exoteric Jung and an esoteric Jung. The implications of Giegerich's binary scission of Jung are explored in this paper, and show that the tendency to exalt one Jung while disparaging the other betrays a comprehensive blindness toward the contradictory complexity of Jung's psychology as a whole. It is suggested that this blindness is the consequence of Giegerich's systematic prioritization of a neo-Hegelian agenda that is in profound conflict with the telos of Jung's psychology.

Two Jungs. Apropos a paper by Mark Saban.

Jung's idea of the 'personal equation' amounts to the reflection that theoretical differences between the psychologies that people teach are rooted in their personalities, in other words, that they are due to the psychology each one 'has'. This concept also applies to different interpretations of Jung's work. The serious difficulties that Mark Saban has with my psychology are a case in point. Recourse to the concept of the personal equation reveals that Saban has his Jung and I have mine. With his insistence on his Talmudic methodological principle of dream interpretation, that 'the dream is its own interpretation', according to Saban Jung means nothing but a rejection of Freudian free association. My Jung goes far beyond that. Jung understands this methodological principle above all in terms of what he calls 'circumambulation'. The main part of this paper is devoted to an elucidation of what circumambulation involves as a mode of dream interpretation. The paper concludes with the distinction Jung himself introduced between two types of reading of his work, either as 'paper' and 'dead nostrums' or as 'fire and wind', and pleads for a reconstruction of Jung's psychology as a whole in terms of his most advanced, deepest insights, instead of a dogmatic reading mainly based on the early Jung, a reading for which his later revolutionary insights are at best negligible embellishments.