Abstract
In this paper we first make a differentiation between phenomena that can be defined as spontaneous and others that can be defined as authentic. We then attempt to present authenticity as a process rather than an outcome. Finally, we try to understand the location of authentic phenomena in the sensorial and pre-symbolic communicative register. We situate authentic phenomena in the register of sensorial and pre-symbolic communication. The authentic process becomes manifest, step by step in the analytic process (Borgogno, 1999), through the vivid iconic and sensorial elements that happen to cross the analytic field. Through two brief clinical vignettes, we seek to document the progression of the analytic process, in one case through the analyst's capacity for rêverie (Bion, 1962; Ogden, 1994, 1997; Ferro, 2002, 2007), and in the other through the sensorial elements with which analyst and patient are able to tune in to each other.
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Notes
Apart from the quotations from Freud (Standard Edition), all other translations from Italian into English are our own.
“I use Bion's term rêverie in reference not only to those psychological states that clearly reflect the active receptiveness of the analyst towards the analysand, but also to a varied group of psychological states that seem to reflect being narcissistically absorbed in oneself, such as obsessive rumination, day-dreaming, sexual fantasies, etc., on the part of the analyst” (Ogden, 1994, p. 54).
On this point, Damasio (1994) suggests the phenomenon of “somatic marker”. This is the element that—functioning as an instinct of survival and in relation to previous experiences active at an implicit level—guides and supports the subject in every choice. It is not a “falsifiable” element inasmuch as it is a somatic fact, and therefore not symbolizable, governed by a primary need that can never be falsified or derogated from the body.
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1M.D., Associate Member, Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI); Psychiatrist; Director, Community Mental Health Department, ASL Roma B.
2M.D., Associate Member, Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI); Psychiatrist; Director, Mental Health Unit, Public Health Agency, Rome.
3M.D., Member, Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI); Psychiatrist; Community Mental Health Centre, ASL Roma E.
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Boccara, P., Gaddini, A. & Riefolo, G. Authenticity and the Analytic Process. Am J Psychoanal 69, 348–362 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/ajp.2009.29
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ajp.2009.29