The International journal of psycho-analysis
October 1, 2021
Cesare Secchi
Using Ignacio Matte Blanco's theoretical model, the author analyzes the paradoxical dramatic dynamics in Carl Theodor Dreyer's film as a tormented path of self-awareness involving progressive immersion in the unconscious. The protagonist Anne, a young wife of an old Lutheran pastor, falls in love with her son-in-law and comes to believe she possesses the magical powers of witches: evoking the living and dead, killing with thought, and communicating through dreams. All emotions reach an infinite level of intensity. After being abandoned by her lover and her husband's death, Anne confesses to witchcraft before his coffin, attaining a mystic epiphany—possibly contact with the mind's deepest layer where symmetrization is total.
The International journal of psycho-analysis
December 1, 2003
Fredrik Falkenström
A theoretical paper integrates psychoanalytic concepts of self with Buddhist meditative psychology. The author divides psychoanalytic notions of self into three levels: experiential (moment-to-moment consciousness), representational (unconscious organizing structures), and systemic (higher-order organization of representations). He argues these levels should be distinguished for clarity. Buddhist psychology is described as enriching psychoanalytic understanding of the experiential self and narcissism, the latter framed as clinging to mental images of self. A model of therapeutic development is outlined, showing psychoanalytic psychotherapy and Buddhist insight meditation as complementary methods emphasizing different levels of self.
The International journal of psycho-analysis
June 1, 2003
Jenifer A Nields
Loewald's theory of ego development provides a psychoanalytic framework for understanding religious experiences that enrich the ego, rather than merely defending against anxiety. In his view, development involves a dynamic interplay between ego and reality, where internalization and integration build resilient structures. A dialectical tension between separation and reunion drives growth. Loewald's focus on the synthetic, not defensive, functions of the ego allows him to characterize sublimation as a genuine appropriation of experience, opening a path to see non-defensive religious experiences psychoanalytically. The author applies this lens to Freud's views on religion, extreme religious fundamentalism, and the dynamics of mature faith.
The International journal of psycho-analysis
February 1, 2002
Janet Sayers
Marion Milner uniquely combined mysticism with psychoanalysis, arguing that undoing obstacles to mystical experiences of oneness with something beyond the self—which she sometimes called God, the unconscious, or the id—promotes health and creativity. Drawing on her self-analysis, analytic work with children and adults, and illustrations from imaginative ideas, paintings, and drawings, she made this case. This article explains and highlights her contribution to psychoanalytic theory and practice, especially that associated with Winnicott, by detailing her early life, diary-keeping experiments, psychoanalytic case histories during and after World War II, her art, and her later involvement with the Squiggle Foundation and British Association of Art Therapists.