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Seventy Years On: Some Clinical Consequences of The Controversial Discussions
Author(s) -
HernandezHalton Isabel
Publication year - 2015
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.12130
Subject(s) - narcissism , instinct , psychic , unconscious mind , psychology , psychoanalysis , relevance (law) , battle , psychoanalytic theory , psychotherapist , history , medicine , law , alternative medicine , archaeology , pathology , evolutionary biology , political science , biology
Seventy years ago with much of the world engaged in a battle for survival in the S econd W orld W ar, the B ritish P sychoanalytical S ociety organized a series of scientific meetings to discuss the new theories of M elanie K lein. The paper starts with a historical background to the C ontroversial D iscussions and moves on to discuss some of the main points of the debate. It revisits the concept of unconscious phantasy along with the debates on primary narcissism and the death instinct, also exploring its use and relevance in current clinical practice. Following B ion's idea that psychic change is felt as catastrophic, I attempt to link some of the anxieties and processes that were present during the C ontroversial D iscussions with similar processes present in the psychoanalytic world today.