Constructing the infantile.

This paper addresses three dimensions that contribute to the constructions of the infantile, as they inform different psychoanalytic perspectives: the infantile body; the infantile mind; and the infantile psyche. Brief reviews of our current knowledge of the infant's physical state and earliest mention, derived from observational and experimental methodologies are presented; raising the question whether psychoanalysts should incorporate such knowledge or rely solely on clinical data. Further, the sources in Freudian texts that legitimate reconstructions of the infantile psyche are examined, while also noting theorists who have chosen alternate approaches. The paper concludes with the assertion that the dimensions which are determined as most germane to a psychoanalyst's construction of the infantile will depend ultimately upon their usefulness in establishing intersubjectivity with patients in clinical practice.

Construindo o infantil¹ / Constructing the infantile / Construyendo lo infantil / En construisant l'infantile

Este trabalho aborda vários fatores que contribuem para a construção do infantil, fatores que abrem múltiplas perspectivas teóricas. Quais dimensões particulares são mais relevantes para qualquer construção é algo que depende, em última análise, de sua utilidade para o analista no estabelecimento da intersubjetividade com os pacientes na prática clínica.

This paper addresses several factors that contribute to constructions of the infantile, as they inform multiple theoretical perspectives. Which particular dimensions are most germane to any construction depends ultimately upon their usefulness to clinicians in establishing intersubjectivity with their patients in clinical practice.

Este trabajo aborda varios factores que contribuyen a la construcción de lo infantil, factores que abren múltiples perspectivas teóricas. Qué dimensiones particulares son más relevantes para cualquier construcción es algo que depende, en última instancia, de su utilidad para el analista en el establecimiento de la intersubjetividad con los pacientes en la práctica clínica.

Cet article aborde plusieurs éléments qui contribuent aux constructions de l'infantile, car il présente de multiples perspectives théoriques. Quelles dimensions particulières sont-elles les plus pertinentes pour une certaine construction, cela dépende, en dernière analyse, de son utilité pout les médecins, au moment de l'établissement de l'intersubjectivité avec leurs patientes dans la pratique clinique.

Coming to terms with intersubjectivity: keeping language in mind.

Recent reports of clinical experiences, from multiple theoretical perspectives using different terminologies, converge on the topic of the origin and nature of intersubjectivity as it emerges in clinical interactions. Intersubjectivity is explored from the point of view of language and communication, and the distinctive properties of language that create a shared intrapsychic world, on which intersubjectivity subtends, are discussed. This viewpoint can explain behavior and pathologies that arise from the struggle to maintain one's personal subjectivity in an intersubjective world. Understanding the role and functions of language may also illuminate the therapeutic benefits of talk-based therapies.

From dyad to dialogue: language and the early relationship in American psychoanalytic theory.

The centrality of language for a Freudian theory of mind and treatment has not been retained by most post-Freudian theorists. American writers have turned to academic developmental research on mother-child interactions to depict the preoedipal period as preverbal, presymbolic, nonconscious. This view presents the early relationship as developing in linear stages in which visual observational data (e.g., contingent behavior action patterns between two persons) are privileged over aural-oral data of communicational exchanges. An alternative view is presented that redefines the earliest relationship in terms of communicational exchanges, mediation, and dialogue. The claim is that understanding the nature of mediated communication keeps language central to psychoanalysis and reestablishes an intrapsychic dimension in the concept of relationship that is lost when relationship is reduced to behavioral patterns.

Unconscious fantasy: a once and future concept.

The concept of unconscious fantasy should be retained as fundamental to any psychoanalytic approach. The concept is reexamined in the face of two challenges: today's theoretical pluralism and the recent integration of findings from academic research. The first section reviews post-Freudian theoretical contributions to Freud's original concept, concluding that in its evolved form it is flexible enough to serve multiple perspectives. The second section examines four features identified with primary process thinking, demonstrating that a model of early mentation based on adult dream work cannot be supported by research on early development. However, the contemporary concept of unconscious fantasy is compatible with research findings from child development studies and cognitive neuroscience, permitting psychoanalysts to enter dialogue with those fields. Our contribution is not the posit of a new form of thinking (primary process) but an understanding of how general cognitive processes are enlisted for motivated purposes.

The second person.

Unlike third-person sciences, psychoanalysis is the science of the second person. Briefly tracing the history of our focus on a second person, this paper contrasts two different approaches--the dyadic and the dialogic, proposing the latter as the better model for our field and the one that marks our unique contribution to other disciplines.