Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J A Arlow

Publications and source records attributed to J A Arlow.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

The concept of psychic reality--how useful?

The author argues that Freud coined the phrase 'psychic reality' to indicate how neurotic patients and others treat unconscious psychic concepts and fears as if they were real. They respond to the challenges of everyday life not in terms of objective reality, but rather in keeping with their inner 'psychic' reality. With the development of different schools of thought in psychoanalysis, opinions as to precisely what constitutes the contents and character of unconscious mental functioning differ enormously, to the extent that there is no general agreement as to the nature and quality of unconscious mental elements. Psychoanalysts do not have a shared view of what constitutes psychic reality, with the result that genuine scientific interchange has become increasingly difficult and attenuated. The author considers that what is required is the exploration and enunciation of an agreed upon methodological approach to the interpretation of clinical data and thence to the formulation of mutually acceptable psychoanalytic concepts.

Communication Barriers↗
PubMed1995

Stilted listening: psychoanalysis as discourse.

The search for repressed memories and a one-sided emphasis on the analysis of transference together may serve to overrride the essential task of psychoanalytic technique, which is to demonstrate to the patient how his or her mind works and how more adaptive compromise formations may be achieved. Psychoanalysis is, after all, a mode of therapy depending upon discourse, the exchange of information, and mutual influence through the process of conversation. By being sensitive to the manner in which meaning and affect in relationships are transmitted during conversation, the analyst may more easily apprehend the nature of the patient's conflicts, defenses, and transference.

Affect↗
PubMed1991

Methodology and reconstruction.

The challenges presented in treating patients with so-called borderline and narcissistic personality disorders have revived interest in the subject of reconstruction, because many analysts believe that these difficulties originate in the events of the earliest preverbal phase of development. They feel that contributions from direct observation of neonates and knowledge gained from "infant psychiatry" may enable analysts to effect reconstructions that previously appeared to be only speculative. The methodological problems in applying this approach, however, may lead to foisting upon clinical observation preconceived paradigms of pathogenesis. Reconstruction depends upon a disciplined interpretation of the dynamic record of the patient's associations, which demonstrate how the past is embedded in the present. The validity of the reconstruction depends upon the application of appropriate and disciplined psychoanalytic methodology. Reconstructions constitute a special form of interpretation and are part of the psychoanalytic process.

Borderline Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1990

The psychoanalytic process.

Analysts differ in how they conceptualize the psychoanalytic process, according to their understanding of the psychoanalytic theory of mental functioning in general and the nature of pathogenesis in particular. Emphasizing that psychoanalysis is a psychology of mental conflict, the authors see the psychoanalytic process in terms of the dynamic interplay between the manifestations of the patient's unconscious and the analyst's interventions. What analysts communicate to analysands serves to destabilize the equilibrium of forces within the mind, leading to the analysands' growing understanding of the nature of their conflicts and how they deal with them. Psychoanalytic process, accordingly, cannot be distinguished or separated from psychoanalytic technique.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1987

The dynamics of interpretation.

The patient's productions are a dynamic record of the conflicts of the past as they are recapitulated and re-experienced in the present. Much can be learned by closely studying the immediate effect of the analyst's interventions. Interpretation, especially of transference phenomena, will upset the equilibrium which has been effected and will enable the patient to understand how unconscious fantasies from the past continue to influence his perception and reactions in the present. Interpretation is a continuing process, unfolding in logical sequence. Transference may be an expression of the patient's resistance to recognizing an unconscious wish toward the original object.

Conflict, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

Psychoanalysis and time.

Psychoanalysis is fundamentally related to time because it is an effort to understand how disturbances in the present are determined by events in the past. Technically, we know that the patient who is reporting immediate perceptions is not aware of the passage of time, but he becomes self-conscious as undesirable elements threaten to appear in his associations. Time is not sensed by direct awareness, nor is it an agent of action or events. Various functions of the ego influence how time is experienced consciously, leading to phenomena such as déjà vu, a sensation of timelessness, misjudgment of time duration, the experience of premonition. Psychoanalysis more than any other discipline sheds light on the coexistence of past, present, and future, as influenced by unconscious fantasy thinking. The analyst's understanding of the patient's associations is guided by temporal factors such as context and contiguity, succession of similar or opposite elements. Basically, the self is a time-bound concept; identity implies that a self is the same entity at different points in time. There is a deep-seated rebellion against the tyranny of time, beginning with need frustration in the infant and culminating in the knowledge that man is destined to lose the struggle against death.

Awareness↗
PubMed1986

The poet as prophet: a psychoanalytic perspective.

The poet spins a public fantasy, created from his own private daydreams and speaking to the unconscious fantasies of his audience. He presents a socially acceptable form of expression of forbidden wishes and conflicts. A process of mutual exculpation is set up between the poet and his audience. For a special group the work of the poet may also make possible the alleviation of pathogenic anxieties. An examination of the play, The Beard, indicates how an artist may intuit and articulate changes in sexual morality. The poet rebels against the constraints of society, thereby helping his audience to rebel without guilt. He may be the herald of a changing morality, and even more, his art may become an instrument for such change.

Conflict, Psychological↗