Biomedical subjects
Harold P Blum
Publications and source records attributed to Harold P Blum.
Time and history in psychoanalysis.
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Psychoanalytic reconstruction and reintegration.
Psychoanalytic reconstruction has declined in theoretical and clinical interest as greater attention has been directed to the here and now of the transference-counter-transference field and inter-subjectivity. Transference, however, is based upon childhood fantasy, and is a new edition of unconscious intra-psychic representation and relationships. In this paper transference is viewed as a guide to reconstruction, but transference itself is also an object of reconstruction. Reconstruction is a complementary agent of change, which integrates genetic interpretations and restores the continuity of the self The patient's childish traits, features, fixations, and irrational childish fantasies and behavior point to the necessity for reconstruction. Reconstruction organizes dissociated, fragmented memories, potentiating the further retrieval of repressed memories. Reconstruction is essential to the working through and attenuation of early traumatic experience. Recapture of the past is necessary to demonstrate and diminish the persistent influence of the past in the present, and to meaningfully connect past and present. A case is presented in which reconstruction had a central, vital role in the analytic process.
Beneath and beyond the "formulations on the two principles of mental functioning": Freud and Jung.
This paper discusses Freud's classic contribution "Formulations on the Two Principles of Mental Functioning" in the historical context of the Freud-Jung relationship, covertly represented by an obscure dream with Freud's interpretation. Freud added the dream and its interpretation to a previous unpublished version of the paper Freud's analysis of his conflicts with Jung (and earlier with Fliess) particularly regarding parricide and plagiarism, contributed to the incipient psychoanalytic theory of aggression. The paper further explores psycho-biographical issues in the life and work of Freud, exemplified in the latent content of this classic paper The pleasure and reality principles are re-examined within contemporary psychoanalytic theory.
Separation-individuation theory and attachment theory.
Separation-individuation and attachment theories are compared and assessed in the context of psychoanalytic developmental theory and their application to clinical work. As introduced by Margaret Mahler and John Bowlby, respectively, both theories were initially regarded as diverging from traditional views. Separation-individuation theory, though it has had to be corrected in important respects, and attachment theory, despite certain limitations, have nonetheless enriched psychoanalytic thought. Without attachment an infant would die, and with severely insecure attachment is at greater risk for serious disorders. Development depends on continued attachment to a responsive and responsible caregiver. Continued attachment to the primary object was regarded by Mahler as as intrinsic to the process of separation-individuation. Attachment theory does not account for the essential development of separateness, and separation-individuation is important for the promotion of autonomy, independence, and identity. Salient historical and theoretical issues are addressed, including the renewed interest in attachment theory and the related decline of interest in separation-individuation theory.
Psychic trauma and traumatic object loss.
Psychoanalysis began with the concept of psychic trauma, which was subsequently not clearly differentiated from traumatic object loss or from unconscious conflict and fantasy. Psychic trauma is investigated in relation to unconscious conflict, with and without concurrent object loss. The syndromes of PTSD, uncomplicated by object loss, of traumatic bereavement, and of relatively nontraumatic bereavement, though often interwoven and inseparable, are all different. The significance of the loss, sociocultural factors, and group process influence individual responses to trauma and traumatic bereavement. There are specific neurobiological and psychological sequelae of traumatic experience. Clinical applications are noted.
Repression, transference and reconstruction.
Whereas Peter Fonagy almost dismisses the importance of repression and the recovery of repressed and suppressed memory, the author believes that the analysis of repression retains importance in clinical psychoanalysis. Transference is a return of the repressed, with repressed memories embedded within a fundamental unconscious fantasy constellation. Moreover, transference is an essential, but not the only, route to the understanding and analysis of the patient. Nor should transference be confused with the real or new analytic relationship. The author does not regard the dynamic unconscious as definitely registered and retrieved in procedural memory, awaiting further research. A focus on the present 'self with other' model of therapeutic action neglects pathogenesis and the importance of childhood and its psychoanalytic reconstruction.