Theory Versus Technique in the Clinical Use of the Concept of Identification with the Aggressor
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86
The clinical use of the concept of identification with the aggressor presents a number of difficulties. Often, the rush of associations, memories and thoughts that this process entails do not produce an entry into the symbolic order. It can, on the contrary, trigger a compulsion to repeat or retraumatise. After a short digression on previous work on this subject, the author proposes to specifically consider the meaning of the term aggressor when the latter is accompanied by identification. The term in this case refers to an experience of shared intimacy for subjects that are characterised by disproportionate and unequal physical and psychic strength. The myth of Ulysses and Polyphemus, together with a clinical case, lead us to consider the possibility of a mobile and transitory use of our interpretation of this defence mechanism (like the Rubik’s Cube) in order to counteract the risk that it shall become a permanent structure in psychic functioning.
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