The Smell of Paper: On the Usefulness of Musical Thought in Psychoanalytic Practice

In this paper I stress the importance of musical thinking when applied to clinical psychoanalysis. The particular form of musical thinking I take into consideration is based on the beginning of Beethoven’s Third Symphony. I compare some musical patterns that happen in this score to some of the emotional patterns of my patient Teresa. I illustrate how musical thinking in psychoanalysis could, at times, be an essential part of our clinical tools as we strive to understand what is happening and how to resolve some impasses. Referring to the work of Daniel Stern and speculating on it, I try to demonstrate how some specifics of musical thinking can help us to face intense clinical moments in novel and less “conceptual” ways.