Oneiric activity and the analytical process A semiotic perspective on Willy Baranger's theory of dreams1

This author reconsiders, from a semiotic perspective, the theoretical and technical ideas developed by Willy and Madeleine Baranger, especially W. Baranger's views on the function of dreams, the status of oneiric symbols and the further clinical‐technical use of dreams in the context of the intersubjective dynamic fi eld, together with the basic unconscious fantasy that emerges in the analytic situation. She attempts to relate the Barangers' ideas to others arising from Peirce's analytic semiotics that would support a triadic conceptualization of dreams. The need to incorporate a pragmatic view of communication and of the processes of production of sense as contributions to dream metapsychology and interpretation in the case of non‐neurotic patients is particularly emphasized. On the basis of the hypothesis of a described series of triads underlying the production and retelling of dreams, the acknowledgment of these produced/told dreams as intentional signs allows the presence of a continuous process of semiosis to be proposed. The author introduces clinical material to illustrate the communicative value of dreams through the textual analysis of the report and accompanying associations of three dreams. Such analysis takes a linguistic pragmatics approach that examines those aspects of meaning not accounted for by a restricted semantic theory.     

When the analyst is physically ill: Vicissitudes in the analytical relationship

Something that happened to one of the authors recently led them to refl ect upon what the analyst's falling ill may represent and the problems it may give rise to in the analytic relationship. Such an eventuality injects a massive dose of the analyst's personal reality into the analytic space, thereby allowing the patient a glimpse of images of vulnerability, frailty and loss, and mobilizing emotions, fantasies and defences in both the analyst and the patient. The authors' survey of the literature ranges between two different theoretical perspectives intrapsychic and intersubjective that, in their most radical formulations on technique, call for maintaining either the strictest neutrality and anonymity or symmetrical relationality. In both cases, that which is denied is the unconscious communication that enables the analyst, irrespective of his conscious intentions, to allow either parts of himself or inner objects of the patient to act in the relationship. In closing, the authors shall illustrate the concept discussed through three clinical vignettes.     

ON CLASSICAL AND NEO-ANALYTIC FORMS OF PRAGMATISM

Abstract: Pragmatism as it originally arose in America has always been pluralist, always willing to find space for those who understood it in other ways. But in the emergence of neo‐analytic pragmatism it is possible that the term has been stretched beyond its limits in a way that does more harm than good in veiling if not actually obscuring central tenets that are well worth preserving. The aim of this article is to describe some aspects of this phenomenon and to draw some tentative conclusions.     

The incontinent analyst

The author describes a group of phenomena that can affect the analyst and become the motivating force that pushes the analyst to break confidentiality. He describes the inevitable dialectic of symmetry and asymmetry in the psychoanalytic dyad during the analytic process, and asserts that, every time the analyst is in symmetry with the emerging material of the analysand, identification will occur. This identification with the material offered by the analysand activates the system of ideals and produces a value judgment. The author explores the anxiety, the loneliness, the narcissistic deficiencies and the symptom of the analyst as phenomena that can force the analyst to rupture the promise of confidentiality given in good faith to the analysand at the beginning of the treatment.     

A Comprehensive Literature Review of the Rank Reversal Phenomenon in the Analytic Hierarchy Process

During the last few decades, several multi‐criteria decision analysis methods have been proposed to help in selecting the best compromise alternatives. Among them, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and its applications have attracted much attention from academics and practitioners. However, since the early 1980s, critics have raised questions regarding its proper use. One of them concerns the unacceptable changes in the ranks of the alternatives, called rank reversal, upon changing the structure of the decision. Several modifications were suggested to preserve ranks. In this paper, a classification scheme and a comprehensive literature review are presented in order to uncover, classify and interpret the current research on AHP methodologies and rank reversals. On the basis of the scheme, 61 scholarly papers from 18 journals are categorized into specific areas. The specific areas include the papers on the topics of adding/deleting alternatives and the papers published in adding/deleting criteria. The scholarly papers are also classified by (1) year of publication, (2) journal of publication, (3) authors' geographic location and (4) using the AHP in association with other methods. It is hoped that the paper can meet the needs of researchers and practitioners for convenient references of AHP methodologies and rank reversals and hence promote the future of rank reversal research. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“THESE ANXIETIES ARE NOT MINE”: ADOLESCENCE,THE OEDIPAL CONFIGURATION,AND TRANSGENERATIONAL FACTORS

Part 1 of this paper draws on the film Back to the Future (1985) to highlight various aspects of adolescence, the oedipal situation, and transgenerational factors. The authors then discuss the Oedipus myth and its themes of adolescence, narcissism, identity, acting out, repetition, aggression, and the parent–child relationship, among others. Comments drawn from Winnicott's writing on oedipal issues are discussed as well. As an illustration of some of these issues, in Part 2, the authors present the clinical case of Osvaldo, age sixteen. Transference‐countertransference issues in this treatment are explored in depth.     

I Don’t See Color,All People Are the Same: Whiteness and Color-Blindness as Training and Supervisory Issues

This article describes cultural responsiveness training, with a particular emphasis to working with white students. Training methods, which have been effective in examining issues of power and privilege, will be described. Excerpts from previous trainees’ correspondences will be shared to demonstrate how they may have been influenced by such exercises. I will share how reflections of this work have helped to shape who I am. Recommendations for others who wish to pursue cultural sensitivity training will be offered.     

The first interview: Anxieties and research on initiating psychoanalysis

A qualitative clinical study of preliminary interviews by the Working Party on Initiating Psychoanalysis (WPIP) of the European Psychoanalytic Federation suggests that the unconscious dynamics in first interviews are extraordinarily powerful and that they give rise to deep unconscious anxieties in both patient and analyst, with the corresponding defences against them. Furthermore, the group dynamics observed in the clinical workshops and in the research team doing the study suggest that both the anxieties and the defences are conveyed to these groups in the form of unelaborated ‘session residues’ provoking renewed anxieties and defences in them. These findings contribute to our understanding of what goes on in first interviews, but also raise interesting questions about the psychoanalytic research process in psychoanalysis and how confrontation with the unknown is dealt with in that context. Rather than as a means to avoid anxiety, method in clinical research can be seen as a way to help the research group to contain its reactions and to tolerate them until the group finds its way to further elaboration. These points are illustrated with a clinical case drawn from the study.