The Psychoanalytic Mystic and the Interpretive Word.
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association October 1, 2022 DOI: 10.1177/00030651221124803 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | William james Communication Interpretation Intuition Mystical Nonverbal Psychoanalysis Unconscious |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that psychoanalytic cure depends on an interplay between mystical, nonverbal communication and verbal interpretation, with insight arising from crossing the threshold of the nonverbal into consciousness. |
Abstract
Explicit and implicit psychoanalytic assumptions concerning the analytic cure include the old "insight/interpretation" versus "relation/experience" duality. A synthesis of these two stances, grounded in recognition of the long denied yet central mystical facet of psychoanalysis and the crucial role of words in the "talking cure" that psychoanalysis still is, recognizes these two aspects of psychoanalysis-mystical communication through psychic overlap and interpretive words-as deeply interdependent. Analytic interpretations emerge from the depths of a mystical experience of psychic unity (as well as separateness) resulting from, but also creating, the patient-therapist caesura. Words shape the contour of this closeness-separateness matrix on which psychoanalysis depends. Moreover, the moment of insight into the psychic reality of the other is shown to often depend on crossing the threshold of the nonverbal toward consciousness and language. Constant movement between verbalization and the nonverbal is illustrated with clinical vignettes stressing the interplay of the mystical and the symbolized, of interpretation and intuition.