Die „Seelenkulturrevolution“

In this paper the work of the author as a psychoanalytic training therapist and supervisor at a counselling centre in a Chinese metropolis will be described. In the first part her experiences with adults of the age cohort 25–35 years will be described, the second generation after the Cultural Revolution. Special attention is devoted to biographically relevant life stages such as childhood, education and marriage in a transient society between a system of traditional Confucian values and that of the new capitalism. The second part of the paper focuses on culture-specific characteristics of a collectivist society from a psychoanalytic perspective, such as setting limits, saving face, empathy, transference and sexuality.     

„Schicksalsklüfte“

The present paper deals with the derivation of the fate concept and its application in psychotherapeutic theory and practice. Conclusions for an extension of the practical therapeutic view on existential themes, such as meaning, freedom, loneliness and death are drawn and effects on the therapeutic relationship are presented.     

Die Kindstötung „in oder gleich nach der Geburt“

§ 217 of the German penal code, which intended a milder punishment for the homicide of an illegitimate child by the mother right after birth than for manslaughter, was abrogated without substitution in 1998. The reasoning behind this move does not convince. We will give a short summary of the history of this law. The privileged status of this crime was primarily justified in view of the denied pregnancy and the consequent state of the mother at the time of birth. Even after abrogation of §217 StGB there has to be differentiated between former reasons for privileged treatment, which now can justify from a juridicial point of view the use of §213 StGB (minor manslaughter), and those pathological states of mind which allow for the establishment of reduced or nullified legal responsibility.     

„Die Umwelt macht mich krank“

Fears and physical complaints are frequently attributed to the environment. In the form of environmental illness or environmental syndromes they can often reach clinical relevance, even if no causal relationship between subjective stimuli and symptoms can even if be found. The role of psychotherapy is controversial, especially because patients fear for the legitimacy of their complaints and preferably seek somatic or alternative forms of treatment. In addition, there is limited evidence for the effectiveness of psychotherapy. In view of the high degree of suffering, especially as anticipatory anxiety, avoidance behavior, social retreat and distrust, and comorbidity with mental illness, psychotherapy can frequently enable patients to reach more self-efficacy, trust, a wider range of activities and thus a better quality of life.     

Die Rolle positiver Emotionen in der frühen Sozialisation

Emotions are vital characteristics of the evolved human nature. Expression and function of emotions, however, vary substantially depending on socio-cultural contexts. This paper focuses on two strategies concerning the expression of positive emotionality in early mother-child interactions. Western middle class families emphasize the expression of positive emotions in early social interactions from early infancy. Positive emotionality is associated with personal autonomy and individual uniqueness. In traditional farmer families in the non-western world emotional control is emphasized from birth. Emotional inexpressiveness is part of a socialization strategy that is oriented towards hierarchical relatedness. The early socialization experiences have measurable effects on emotion regulation of 1-year-old children. The confrontation of different cultural models in multicultural societies is inherently fraught with confliction. These implications are discussed.     

Die emotionale Natur des „semantischen“ Raumes

Ohne ZusammenfassungHerrn Professor Dr. Wolfgang Metzger zum 65. Geburtstag in Dankbarkeit gewidmet.     

Die Geschichte der „Stellungnahme zur psychoanalytischen Therapie“

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Die „angenehmste Entfernung“ zur Betrachtung sozialer Objekte

Zusammenfassung 3 Experimente wurden durchgeführt, in denen die Versuchspersonen (39 Studenten) aufgefordert wurden, die ihnen am angenehmsten erscheinende Entfernung zu verschiedenen Reizobjekten zu wählen. Es zeigte sich, daß die Versuchspersonen näher an Personen als an Fotografien von Personen oder Gegenständen herangingen. Männliche Versuchspersonen gingen näher an weibliche als an männliche Reizpersonen heran. Es bestand außerdem die Tendenz einer größeren Annäherung an Personen, wenn diese die Versuchsperson anblickten. Die angenehmste Entfernung war individuell verschieden und über mehrere Wochen stabil. Sie war außerdem vom räumlichen Bezugssystem abhängig; in diesem Zusammenhang konnte die Ausbildung von Einstellungen gezeigt werden. Die Ergebnisse wurden im Hinblick auf ein Gleichgewichtsmodell sozialer Kräfte von Argyle u. Dean diskutiert.

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The most comfortable distance for observing social objects

Summary Three experiments were conducted in which subjects (39 students) were to choose the distance from various stimulus objects which appeared most comfortable to them. It was shown that subjects approached actual persons more closely than they did photographs of persons or objects. Male subjects approached female stimulus objects more closely than they did males. There was a tendency of greater approach if the stimulus persons gazed at the subjects. The most comfortable distance was specific for the individual and remained stable over a period of several weeks. It also depended upon the spatial frame of reference; in this connection the development of sets could be shown. The results were discussed in relation to a model for the equilibrium of social forces from Argyle and Dean.

     

Die „Technik der Psychoanalyse“ von Otto Rank

In the 1920s, Otto Rank broadened the psychoanalytic treatment space by the prelingual relational and self-experience in the time before, during and after birth. This meant that early prelingual experiences at the level of emotions and sensations is always covertly present in the analytic situation. The special emphasis on the earliest relationship to the mother was perceived in the patriarchal society of the time as inadequate and unjustifiable. But the last decades provided perceptions in different therapeutic settings which seem to confirm the observations of Rank. Just as important are the findings of the empirical research in early brain development and in after effects of early traumatic stress which show the shaping role of early development in a completely new light. There are also new insights into particularities of early human development due to evolution, especially about the psychological consequences of the “physiological premature birth”. From this knowledge a new framework arises for the understanding of early development and for the assessment of the observations and conclusions of Rank. From a contemporary viewpoint this provides valuable contributions to the psychoanalytic research of the last decades into early after birth mother-child relationships. They bear the potential for a deeper understanding of the prelingual level of the psychoanalytic treatment situation.