Transformational processes in clinical psychoanalysis : dreaming, emotions and the present moment

275 Pages·2019·2.858 MB·English

by  Brown, Lawrence J.

TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESSES
IN CLINICAL PSYCHOANALYSIS
In this book, Lawrence J. Brown offers a contemporary perspective on how the mind
transforms, and gives meaning to, emotional experience that arises unconsciously
in the here-and-now of the clinical hour. Brown surveys the developments in
theory and practice that follow from Freud’s original observations and traces this
evolution from its conception to contemporary analytic field theory.
Brown emphasizes that these unconscious transformational processes occur
spontaneously, in the blink of an eye, through the “unconscious work” in which
the analyst and patient are engaged. Though unconscious, these processes are
accessible and the analyst must train himself to become aware of the subtle
ways he is affected by the patient in the clinical moment. By paying attention to
one’s reveries, countertransference manifestations and even supposed “wild” or
extraneous thoughts, the analyst is able to obtain a glimpse of how his unconscious
is transforming the ambient emotions of the session in order to formulate an
interpretation.
Brown casts a wide theoretical net in his exploration of these transformational
processes and builds on the contributions of Freud, Theodor Reik, Bion, Ogden,
the Barangers, Cassorla, Civitarese and Ferro. Bion’s theories of alpha function,
transformations, dreaming and his clinical emphasis on the present moment are
foundational to this book. Brown’s writing is clear and aims to describe the various
theoretical ideas as plainly as possible. Detailed clinical material is given in most
chapters to illustrate the theoretical perspectives. Brown applies this theory of
transformational processes to a variety of topics, including the analyst’s receptivity,
countertransference as transformation, the analytic setting, the paintings of J.M.W.
Turner, “autistic transformations” and other clinical situations in the analysis of
children and adults.
Transformational Processes in Clinical Psychoanalysis will be of great interest to all
psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists.
Lawrence J. Brown trained in adult and child psychoanalysis and is a faculty
member and supervising child analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute (BPSI),
USA. He is also a supervising and personal analyst at the Massachusetts Institute
for Psychoanalysis. Brown has lectured internationally and published papers on
a variety of topics, including the Oedipal situation, Bion, intersubjectivity, field
theory and autistic phenomena.
PSYCHOANALYTIC IDEAS AND APPLICATIONS SERIES
IPA Publications Committee
Gennaro Saragnano (Rome), Chair and General Editor; Leticia Glocer Fiorini
(Buenos Aires), Consultant; Samuel Arbiser (Buenos Aires); Paulo Cesar Sandler
(São Paulo); Christian Seulin (Lyon); Mary Kay O’Neil (Montreal); Gail S.
Reed (New York); Catalina Bronstein (London); Rhoda Bawdekar (London),
Ex-officio as Publications Officer; Paul Crake (London): IPA Executive Director
(ex-officio)
Recent titles in the Series include
Art in Psychoanalysis: A Contemporary Approach to Creativity
and Analytic Practice
edited by Gabriela Goldsteunb
The Female Body: Inside and Outside
edited by Ingrid Moeslein-Teising and Frances Thomson-Salo
Death and Identity: Being and the Psycho-Sexual Drama
Michel de M’Uzan
Unpresented States and the Construction of Meaning: Clinical
and Theoretical Contributions
edited by Howard B. Levine and Gail S. Reed
The Ethical Seduction of the Analytic Situation: The Feminine–Maternal
Origins of Responsibility for the Other
Viviane Chetrit-Vatine
Time for Change: Tracking Transformations in Psychoanalysis—
The Three-Level Model and fufu
edited by Marina Altmann de Litvan
Hostile and Malignant Prejudice: Psychoanalytic Approaches
edited by Cyril Levitt
Freud and Culture
Eric Smadja
Play, Gender, Therapy: Selected Papers of Eleanor Galenson
edited by Nellie L. Thompson
Psychopathology of Work: Clinical Observations
edited by Christophe Dejours
Finding the Body in the Mind: Embodied Memories, Trauma, and Depression
Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber
The Future of Psychoanalysis: The Debate about the Training Analyst System
edited by Peter Zagermann
The Analytical Process: Journeys and Pathways
Thierry Bokanowski
Psychotic Organisation of the Personality: Psychoanalytic Keys
Antonio Perez-Sanchez
Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Virtual Intimacy and Communication in Film
edited by Andrea Sabbadini, Ilany Kogan and Paola Golinelli
Transformational Processes in Clinical Psychoanalysis: Dreaming,
Emotions and the Present Moment
Lawrence J. Brown
TRANSFORMATIONAL
PROCESSES IN CLINICAL
PSYCHOANALYSIS
Dreaming, Emotions and the
Present Moment
Lawrence J. Brown
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Lawrence J. Brown
The right of Lawrence J. Brown to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or herea(cid:286) er invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Brown, Lawrence J., 1946– author.
Title: Transformational processes in clinical psychoanalysis : dreaming,
emotions and the present moment / Lawrence J. Brown.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. |
Series: The International Psychoanalytic Association ideas and
applications series | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2018025585 (print) | LCCN 2018027974 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780429451140 (Master) | ISBN 9780429835827 (Web PDF) |
ISBN 9780429835810 (ePub) | ISBN 9780429835803 (Mobipocket/Kindle) |
ISBN 9781138323919 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138323926 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Psychoanalysis. | Psychiatry. | Clinical psychology.
Classifi cation: LCC RC506 (ebook) | LCC RC506 .B696 2019 (print) |
DDC 616.89/17—dc23
LC record available at h(cid:308) ps://lccn.loc.gov/2018025585
ISBN: 978-1-138-32391-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-32392-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-45114-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Palatino
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
This book is dedicated to the memory of
James Grotstein, MD
Teacher, mentor, friend

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
SERIES EDITOR’S FOREWORD xi
A PREFACE AND SOME “FROG” THOUGHTS xiii
Giuseppe Civitarese
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction 1
CHAPTER TWO
From countertransference to Transformations 17
CHAPTER THREE
Bion’s discovery of alpha function: the engine of transformations 39
CHAPTER FOUR
Bion’s T ransformations and clinical practice 61
CHAPTER FIVE
The analyst’s receptivity: evolution of the concept and 87
its clinical application
vii
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER SIX
Ruptures in the analytic setting and disturbances 105
in the transformational field of dreams
CHAPTER SEVEN
The unbearable glare of living: the Sublime, Bion’s theory 123
of “O” and J. M. W. Turner, “Painter of Light”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Three unconscious pathways to representing the analyst’s 139
experience: reverie, countertransference dreams
and joke-work
CHAPTER NINE
Autistic transformations I: from ashes to ashes: 155
the heroic struggle of an autistic boy trying
to be born and stay alive
CHAPTER TEN
Autistic transformations II: the capacity to tell a joke: 171
reflections from work with Asperger’s children
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Notes on memory and desire”: implications for 189
working through
CHAPTER TWELVE
Conclusion: on Freud’s “The question of a W eltanschauung ” – 203
a world of perpetual transformation?
REFERENCES 221
INDEX 237
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my colleagues of the Klein/Bion Study Group in
Boston and the Boston Group for Psychoanalytic Studies for creating and
sustaining a rich and scholarly atmosphere which nurtured many years of
collective study.
I would also like to thank my wife and family for supporting my
efforts, granting me the time and space for thinking as well as to my chil-
dren and grandchildren, who learned that I was unable to be with them at
certain times because of “work.”
I am indebted to the members of the IPA Publications committee for
their interest in, and support of, this book, and a special thanks goes to
Rod Tweedy of Karnac books for his help in navigating the initial publica-
tion process, which was then continued with generous assistance from the
publication staff at Routledge.
I also wish to thank the Psychoanalytic Quarterly and John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. for permission to use my (2015) paper “Ruptures in the analytic set-
ting and disturbances in the transformational field of dreams,” P sa Q , 84:
841–865. I appreciate permission from the International Journal of Psycho-
analysis and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. to use my two papers: (2012) “Bion’s
discovery of alpha function: Thinking under fire on the battlefield and in
the consulting room,” IJP , 93: 1191–1214; and (2016) “The capacity to tell a
joke: Reflections from work with Asperger’s children,” I JP , 97: 1609–1625.
ix