Review Essay: Conflict: See Under Dissociation
- Philip Ringstrom tackles a neglected but important topic – therapeutic improvisation. In my view, this is better termed spontaneity. A central issue is the therapist's freedom of mind, which, in the typical case, is restricted by the transferential – countertransferential field. I argue that the value of spontaneity, on the part of both partners, lies in its contribution to a growing >aliveness< in an individual previously >dead.< In this commentary, three forms of spontaneity are distinguished: The therapist, immersed in the patient's experience, is able to resonate with and amplify a moment of vitality in the patient's expression in pseudospontaneity, the therapist believes he or she is responding spontaneously but is acting under the influence of the transferential – countertranferential field and there is a spontaneity in the therapist's >leap to freedom< from the constriction of this field. In that this expression is genuine, and new to the patient, it may have benefit in the manner of a >corrective emotional experience.< The example of therapeutic spontaneity that is given suggests that, ideally, all therapeutic language is, in a nonsalient way, spontaneous – fresh and unscripted. In this example, the therapist's form of responsiveness leads to the emergence of a larger, reflective form of consciousness in the patient – a state toward which the therapeutic endeavor is directed.
MetadatenAuthor: | Russell Meares |
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Parent Title (English): | Psychoanalytic Dialogues Vol. 11 (2001), pp. 755-769. |
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Document Type: | Reviews |
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Language: | English |
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Year of first Publication: | 2001 |
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Release Date: | 2017/11/20 |
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Format: | xerox upon request / Fotokopie auf Anfrage |
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IdNo: | Meares_R_2001 |
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Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive: | Reviews / Rezensionen |
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Licence (German): | |
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