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This paper compares presentations of disorders of the sense of body ownership and agency from psychoanalytic and neurological perspectives to demonstrate similarities in symptomatology proposing these similarities arise from adjustments in Friston's generative model of self-organization and selfhood. The implications for the analytic model of the Self, for clinical practice and for neuroscience research are considered. Patients with narcissistic disorders use projective defences resulting in a disordered sense of what belongs to whom. This applies to mind and body of self and other and is central to understanding transference and countertransference. Clinical observations of this disordered sense of ownership and agency mirror findings in neurological disorders. This paper proposes that in both neurological and psychological disorders Friston's 'internal generative model' of selfhood is adjusted. Further to this whilst this adjustment may be either neurogenic or psychogenic, the final neural mechanism and symptomatic outcome are similar. On the basis of these observations the paper compares the concept of the Self from Jungian and psychoanalytic perspectives. Finally, the implications for the concept of the death instinct and Britton's concept of Xenophobia are explored along with the implications of these observations for clinical practice., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Analytical Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Society of Analytical Psychology.)

This paper introduces a Relational Affective Formulation of severe narcissistic and borderline disorders. The formulation is grounded in psychoanalytic and neuroscientific theory, clinical observation and therapeutic work with hospitalised patients. It provides a conceptual framework for psychodynamic psychiatrists, therapists and psychosocial practitioners working in teams. Paying particular attention to the central place of affect, projective and introjective processes, claustro-agoraphobic phenomena, regression and the place of both deficits and dynamic defences in the failure of symbolisation, the case is made that this framework is suited to therapeutic work with patients who are highly suicidal and complex. The application of this formulation to service design and treatment pathways is described along with a summary of the body of psychoanalytic thinking which contributed to its development. The formulation is the cornerstone of a practice guide currently under development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article describes the developing links between the clinical psychotherapeutic disciplines, and neuroscientific research, with particular emphasis on psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It outlines some of the areas of emerging common ground as the interaction between genetic and social factors in brain development become clearer and as cognitive neuropsychology begins to encompass the recent findings elucidating the neurological basis of emotion. The implications of psychoanalytic theory for neuroscience through the development of the discipline of neuro-psychoanalysis are considered along with the implications of neuroscience and neuroimaging for clinical psychotherapy practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]