The Referential Process, Consciousness, and the Sense of Self
Emotional Communication and Therapeutic Change December 15, 2002 DOI: 10.1080/07351692209349017 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 148 |
| Key points | Argues that the referential process linking subsymbolic and symbolic systems in working memory is central to consciousness and the sense of self, and that dissociation within emotion schemas underlies neurosis. |
Abstract
The concepts of multiple code theory and the referential process are examined in relation to levels of awareness and the sense of self as characterized in recent work in neuropsychology by Damasio. The juxtaposition of subsymbolic and symbolic systems in working memory, as this operates in the referential process, is central to both consciousness and the sense of self. The roots of pathology lie in dissociation within emotion schemas; this applies at different levels for all forms of neurosis. The goal of psychoanalytic treatment is integration of dissociated schemas; this requires activation of subsymbolic, including bodily experience, in the session itself, in relation to symbolic representations of present and past experience. Implications concerning repression, resistance, the primary process, the role of language in therapeutic change, and other psychoanalytic concepts are discussed.