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Identification - obstacle to individuation, or: on how to become 'me'.
- Source :
-
Journal of Analytical Psychology . Apr2017, Vol. 62 Issue 2, p187-204. 18p. - Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- This paper will explore the use of identification with aspects of a lost object as a defensive strategy to cope with traumatic loss, and will show how in the depth of the analytic work this identification can be accessed and made conscious. Descriptions of work with a three-year-old boy illustrate how the sudden loss of his mother's breasts had made weaning un-accessible to him, and how, in the absence of a good experience of separation, the process of mourning had not been able to take place. Instead, identification with aspects of the lost breast was used as a defence against pain, and this state of affairs was proving a hindrance to individuation. In the discussion of the case material, the use of identification as a defence will be highlighted, and a differentiation made between abandonment and separation as this illuminates the link between mourning and individuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00218774
- Volume :
- 62
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Analytical Psychology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 121961639
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12303