Specificities of Psychoanalytic Treatment

A stimulating account of some of the key challenges found in psychoanalysis through a discussion of the Specificity initiative, a research method that examines how analysts work, associate, and reflect together in a group. It offers both a study of the work and an inquiry into the realities of psychoanalytic collaboration.

The book contains contributions from Leopoldo Bleger, Catherine Desvignes, Marie-France Dispaux-Ducloux, Yvette Dorey, Claudio Laks Eizirik, Fabienne Fillion, Serge Frisch, Lila Hoijman, Erika Kittler, Diana Messina Pizzuti, Luc Michel, Martine Sandor-Buthaud, Andrea Scardovi, Evelyne Sechaud, and Ronnie Shaw. Inter-analytic exchange involves associatively voicing thoughts in response to the clinical material of a patient, thus shedding light on some of the intrapsychic activity of psychoanalysts at work. Various transferential movements which may emerge must be contained and processed within this framework. For a day and a half, a group of analysts freely associates on three sessions of clinical material presented by a colleague (who remains silent during the discussion) in the presence of two moderators and a silent observer-rapporteur. This forms the core dispositif of the Specificity method. The general framework of the method is upheld by a European research group that meets biannually. Members establish annual clinical working parties during the European Psychoanalytic Federation (EPF) Congress, where they review observer reports and work through them using, again, free association. A summary of each session is transcribed and a subgroup is dedicated to the systematic reading of the reports to produce further study. While the dispositif does not offer an absolute guarantee, over fifteen years of experience and exploration have proved its worth. It is now a recognised model within the EPF and the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). This collection documents the history of the origins of the method and the discoveries made, the results of the research, and also the ongoing questioning within the EPF. It is neither exhaustive nor didactic, but instead invites you, the reader, to integrate your experiences with the ones presented herein. This is a must-read for all psychoanalysts and clinicians.

About the editors and contributors Foreword Claudio Laks Introduction Part I Presentation of the "specificity" method - psychoanalysts at work 1. The working party on the "specificity of psychoanalytic treatment today" Serge Frisch and Leopoldo Bleger 2. The method within its historical context Leopoldo Blegerand Serge Frisch 3. Construction of the dispositif Serge Frisch and Leopoldo Bleger 4. Presentation of a clinical group and its discussion in the Paris Group, "The Red Blanket" Yvette Dorey 5. Gourmet psychoanalysis, or attempting to describe the work of a research group Erika Kittler Part II Clinical insights - inter-analytic exchanges 6. Moderating a group of analysts listening to clinical material Catherine Desvignes 7. Specificity of the method from the presenter's perspective Martine Sandor-Buthaud 8. The silent support of the tripod - intersecting views: From the role of the rapporteur to the function of the observer Marie-France Dispaux-Ducloux and Lila Hoijman 9. The crossing: A psychoanalytic journey into the heart of a group setting Fabienne Fillion 10. About candidate group work Ronnie Shaw Part III Theoretical insights - Towards a new field of investigation 11. Free association and free discourse Luc Michel 12. Unconscious communication in inter-analytic work Diana Messina Pizzuti 13. What do specificity groups teach us about psychoanalytic specificity? Andrea Scardovi 14. The clinical narrative in the working party on specificity Leopoldo Bleger 15. The group as infant in front of the primal: Grasping, pointing, free-associating in specificity groups practice Andrea Scardovi 16. Outcomes and results Leopoldo Bleger and Serge Frisch Postscript Evelyne Sechaud References Index,