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‘Chaos, Through a Veil of Order’: The Dialectic of Theory and Spontaneity in Psychoananalytic Work
Author(s) -
Holmes Jeremy
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
british journal of psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1752-0118
pISSN - 0265-9883
DOI - 10.1111/bjp.12107
Subject(s) - psychoanalytic theory , parallels , psychology , creativity , psychoanalysis , dialectic , ideology , order (exchange) , epistemology , attachment theory , heuristics , social psychology , psychotherapist , philosophy , mechanical engineering , finance , politics , political science , law , computer science , engineering , economics , operating system
The theme of the paper is the quotidian debate about the role of theory in analytic practice. Based on examples from recent psychoanalytic publications, I argue that psychoanalytic theory may influence therapists as ideology, heuristics, or empiricism, or combinations thereof. B ion's eschewing of theory, and advocacy of an analytic stance ‘beyond memory and desire’ as a precondition for psychoanalytic creativity is questioned. B uber's advocacy of I –Thou relatedness is compared with the concept of mentalizing, and related to recent findings in developmental psychopathology. Parallels are drawn between the therapeutic relationship – bringing together theory and spontaneity in a hermeneutic enterprise – and the infant's use of security‐promoting care‐givers.