Distance psychoanalysis : the theory and pratice of using communication technology in the clinic

241 Pages·2011·0.681 MB·English

by  Carlino, Ricardo

DISTANCE PSYCHOANALYSIS

DISTANCE
PSYCHOANALYSIS
The Theory and Practice of using
Communication Technology
in the Clinic
Ricardo Carlino
Translated by James Nuss
Originally published as “Psicoanalisis a Distancia” © Editorial y Distribuidora
Lumen SRL 2010. Viamonte 1674 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Revised English edition published in 2011 by
Karnac Books Ltd
118 Finchley Road
London NW3 5HT
Copyright © 2011 by Ricardo Carlino
The right of Ricardo Carlino to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C.I.P. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978-1-78049-013-7
Typeset by Vikatan Publishing Solutions (P) Ltd., Chennai, India
Printed in Great Britain
www.karnacbooks.com
Caminante, no hay camino
“Todo pasa y todo queda,
pero lo nuestro es pasar,
pasar haciendo caminos,
caminos sobre la mar.
[...]
Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
caminante no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Golpe a golpe, verso a verso ...”
—Antonio Machado
Traveller, there is no pathway
“Everything passes and everything stays,
But ours is to travel,
To travel making pathways,
Pathways upon the sea
[…]
Traveller, your footprints are
The pathway and nothing more;
Traveller, there is no pathway,
The pathway is made by travelling along it.
Stroke by stroke, verse by verse ...”
—Antonio Machado
Whenever I travel along a new conceptual path, I always take inspiration
from the wisdom of these verses by Machado. When facing something
new, I also feel that the only way to the experience it is to make the
pathway is by travelling along it: subject by subject, point by point,
guessing correctly and being mistaken, stopping and thinking, moving
on and continuing to think that, in fact, this is the path that has been
trod by psychoanalysis, which has existed for more than a century.

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiii
ABOUT THE AUTHOR xv
PROLOGUE FOR THE SPANISH EDITION xvii
INTRODUCTION xxiii
CHAPTER ONE
Socio-Cultural transformations: their influence on psychoanalysis 1
1 Base logic 1
2 The horror towards what’s different 4
3 Why distance psychoanalysis? 5
a Reasons linked to order and social values 7
b Professional reasons 9
4 Influence of technology in the analytical framework 10
5 The use of communication technology and its psychological
repercussion 12
6 Legal aspects 13
vii
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER TWO
Technology and its influence on subjectivity 15
1 Reality: its presentations and its representations 15
a Virtuality 18
b Language and virtualization of thought 21
c Greater concept of “psychic reality” 24
2 Subjectivity, socio-cultural transformations, and technological
advances 25
3 The advent of the “global village” 27
4 Digital natives, digital immigrants 28
CHAPTER THREE
Communication technology and its articulation with clinical
psychoanalysis 31
1 About communication technology 32
a Necessary skills for the managing of communication technology 33
b Preconceived ideas about the function and use of the telephone 35
c Structure of the transmission of voice by telephone 36
α Realism through telephone dialogue 36
β “The real” and “the virtual” of the voice 37
γ The ubiquitous location of the voice 37
δ Transformation and technological transmission
of the voice 38
ε The semantic process 39
d Inclusion of a television camera: uses and implications 41
2 New clinical conceptions: do they promote new theories? 44
a Influence of the arrival of new paradigms 45
b “Mirror neurons”: interaction and inter-effect of their roles 46
3 Critical opinions: a brief history 49
4 Distance as a critical element 53
a Possibilities offered by communication technology 54
b Communication technology in psychoanalytic treatment 55
5 Warnings and recommendations 56
CHAPTER FOUR
Theory of the technique of distance psychoanalysis 59
Similarities and differences between distance psychoanalysis
and analysis performed in the analyst’s office 62
1 Conceptual spaces in which the analytic dialogue and process
take place 65
CONTENTS ix
2 Analytic dialogue from different surroundings 68
3 Specificities arising from the different aspects of each
applied method 70
4 Initial interviews 74
a The “analytic contract” 75
b Purposes of the analytic contract 78
c “Assent” 80
d “Consent” 80
e “Dissent” 81
f Mutually agreed commitment 83
5 The analytic situation 86
a Framework 86
b Process 87
c The Fundamental Rule 87
6 Transference-countertransference 90
7 Session ambience 93
8 About the “silences” 94
a The patient’s silence 96
b The analyst’s silence 97
9 About privacy 97
a Minimum conditions of privacy 99
b Electronic recording of the sessions 100
10 Technological provisions for adequate communication 101
11 Conceptual evolution of the idea of “presence” 101
a The idea of “presence” in distance treatments 102
b Communicative presence 103
12 Role of the body in the psychoanalytic session 106
13 Consequences of the blocking of visual perception 108
CHAPTER FIVE
Scope and limits of analysis carried out with communication
technology 115
1 Framework “Procrustean bed” or according
to “analyst-patient-analysis” 116
2 Focusing implies broadening one’s view by narrowing one’s sight 117
3 Reasons for existence and persistence of distance analysis 120
a Extending the possibilities of choice 123
b Rationally justified reasons 124
c Various kinds of disabilities 124
d The psychopathological identity of the prospective patient 125