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Biomedical subjects

J A Arlow

Publications and source records attributed to J A Arlow.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Some technical problems of countertransference.

There are several aspects of the psychoanalytic interaction that foster the emergence of countertransference. First is a persistent identification with the patient, based primarily on the sharing of unconscious fantasies. Then there is the evocative power the patient's material may have upon latent unresolved conflicts in the analyst. Finally, the analytic setting itself may evoke a broad range of countertransference responses. Particular attention must be paid to those interventions of the analyst which represent attempts to divert his own and the patient's attention from emerging derivatives of the conflicts. There are many clues that should alert the analyst to the possibility of interfering countertransference.

Countertransference↗
PubMed1984

Disturbances of the sense of time with special reference to the experience of timelessness.

Disturbances of the experience of time are examined, with emphasis on the effects of the vicissitudes of the sense of self, affect, unconscious fantasies, and ideas concerning death. The manifest experience is interpreted as a derivative of unconscious, conflict-laden fantasies. Disturbances of the experience of time may be regarded as specific types of affective states, pleasurable or unpleasurable, the quality of the experience being determined by the nature of the underlying unconscious ideational content. Two experiences of timelessness are analyzed, in which the sense of timelessness was determined by the wish to extend time indefinitely. Many elements have been condensed into this basic wish which, as in a dream, was momentarily experienced as already realized.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Scientific cosmogony, mythology, and immortality.

Some current scientific theories of cosmogony demonstrate significant similarities to the cosmological theories of mythology and of certain religions. The notion that the universe originated in a specific cataclysmic explosion raises the mental construct of a center of the universe. This concept plays an important role in mythology and is related to the idea of the cyclical renewal of time. Such concepts, both scientific and mythological, serve as reassurance against the fear of extinction. Aspirations to immortality re-emerge in disguised form in the search for life elsewhere in the universe. Some of the cosmological theories resemble metaphorical elaborations of childhood concepts of procreation.

Astronomical Phenomena↗
PubMed1981

Theories of pathogenesis.

Theories of pathogenesis can be influenced by shared unconscious fantasies. This may determine the speedy enthusiasm with which some theories are accepted. In keeping with primitive, pleasure-seeking trends, it is appealing to blame illness on others and to view pathogenesis in terms of the intrusion into the self of some alien, noxious agent. These ideas can be seen in certain current theories that ascribe pathogenesis to inadequate, unempathic mothering. Such theories influence psychoanalytic technique. Analysis becomes a form of replacement therapy, in which the analyst facilitates normal development by serving as an appropriate object. This approach may gratify unconscious needs in analyst and analysand alike. The attempt to isolate one specific pathogenic factor as crucial fails to do justice to the complexity of pathogenesis and may lead to the failure to recognize the role of unconscious conflict and to analyze resistances.

Fantasy↗
PubMed1980

The revenge motive in the primal scene.

This paper concentrates on two aspects of the sequelae of the primal-scene experience that have not been fully covered in the previous literature. First is the idea of the narcissistic mortification which is part of the oedipal defeat as dramatized by the primal-scene experience and, secondly, the persistent drive for vengeance on both the parent figures in the primal scene. The quest for vengeance may play an important role in character and symptom formation and has specific manifestations in the transference during treatment. The clinical data from a patient in whom these elements were significant are matched by the manifest elements in the motion picture Blow-Up. The clinical experience gives insight into the eleboration of the themes in the motion picture, indicating how sequelae of the primal scene are recurrent in the artistic representation and give insight into the character of the hero.

Drive↗
PubMed1980

Symposium on object relations theory and love. Object concept and object choice.

Any considerations of object relations theory and love requires a clear understanding of how the term, object relations, is used. In this contribution the concept of the object as a mental representation is emphasized. Developmentally, the evolution of the object cannot be separated from the vicissitudes of the drives. Sensorimotor experience is metaphorically assimilated in terms of pleasure-unpleasure components. Since the object concept develops in this context, it is inextricably linked to the vicissitudes of the drives. In later experience, these become organized in terms of persistent unconscious fantasies that ultimately affect object choice and patterns of loving. These are multiple determined and are influenced by contributions from all levels of development, predominantly integrated under the aegis of the oedipus complex.

Aggression↗
PubMed1979

The genesis of interpretation.

Opinions regarding the significance of the analyst's response to his patient's productions differ. This response is only one of many steps by which the analyst understands his patient's productions. In this paper, I have suggested a rationale for the process of the origin of insight. There is a split in the analyst's functioning, corresponding to what takes place in the patient. Through a transitory identification with the patient--empathy--the process of intuition is facilitated. The analyst conceptualizes the clinical data outside of consciousness. The end product is the analyst's inner response, made conscious to him through introspection. The analyst's response is a form of inner communication. It has to be made consonant with the patient's material according to disciplined, cognitive criteria before being formulated into an interpretation.

Awareness↗
PubMed1978

Pyromania and the primal scene: a psychoanalytic comment on the work of Yukio Mishima.

In the writings of the Japanese novelist, Yukio Mishima, primal scene experiences and derivative expressions of them recur persistently. The element of fire figures prominently in connection with the wish to wreak vengeance on the persons originally observed in the act of intercourse. As a destructive, attention-compelling spectacle, fire is a particularly suitable vehicle for this purpose. In Mishima's works, revenge takes the form of retaliation in kind: parental figures, or their surrogates, are put into the position of having to observe the child, or substitutes for him, in the act of sexual infidelity. These observations as well as clinical reports in the literature suggest some insights into fantasies of pyromania. They also make possible certain speculations concerning Misima's turbulent life and dramatic suicide.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Symposium on The Ego and the Id after fifty years. The structural hypothesis--theoretical considerations.

Freud reformulated his model of the psychic apparatus because certain clinical observations did not fit into the earlier framework of his theory. In the new theory, he emphasized the role each element plays in psychic conflict. Because Freud philosophically was committed to a materialistic, nonteleological, biologically based theory, he carried over into the new formulations some of the metapsychological assumptions of the earlier theory. It is suggested that this transposition is responsible for some of the confusion concerning the application of the structural theory. It is proposed that if a more strict usage of the concept of metapsychology with more precise conceptualization is employed, some of the problems connected with the application of the structural theory may be overcome.

Ego↗