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Art within analysis: scapegoat, transference and transformation
Author(s) -
Schaverien Joy
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of analytical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.285
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1468-5922
pISSN - 0021-8774
DOI - 10.1111/1465-5922.00116
Subject(s) - scapegoat , countertransference , embodied cognition , shadow (psychology) , psychology , psychic , psychoanalysis , transference , epistemology , psychoanalytic theory , philosophy , medicine , alternative medicine , theology , pathology
Through clinical example and pictorial illustration, the author examines ways in which art offers a particular means of psychological transformation in states which may otherwise be inexpressible. A transference to the art work itself is proposed. It is submitted that, mediated within the transference/countertransference dynamic, this ‘scapegoat transference’ facilitates a particular process of psychological differentiation. The aesthetic qualities of art presented within analysis will resonate with other countertransference affects. Clinical material demonstrates how observation of this –‘aesthetic countertransference’– leads to a distinction between the ‘diagrammatic’ and the ‘embodied’ image. The process of integration of shadow material is furthered by the temporary safe‐keeping of the art work by the analyst.