Both a method of therapy and an exploration of psychic reality, free association is a fundamental element of psychoanalytical practices that refers to the way a patient is asked to describe what comes spontaneously to mind in the therapeutic setting. This paper examines the role of free association from the point of view of psychoanalysis and neuroscience in order to improve our understanding of therapeutic effects induced by psychoanalytic therapies and psychoanalysis. In this regard, we first propose a global overview of the historical origins of the concept of free association in psychoanalysis and examine how Freud established its principles. Then, from Freud's distinction between primary and secondary processes, we proceed to compare the psychoanalytic model with research originating from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. The notions of entropy and free energy appear particularly relevant at the intersection of these different domains. Finally, we propose the notion of symbolizing transmodality to describe certain specificities of symbolization processes within free association and we summarize the main functions of free association in psychoanalytic practices.
Ce travail propose une étude du concept de transfert de pensée dans le champ psychanalytique contemporain. Il montre de quelle manière les recherches liées à la télépathie ont joué un rôle heuristique dans la construction du positionnement clinique psychanalytique. Il s’agit également de rassembler les contributions contemporaines concernant le transfert de pensée du point de vue de ses conditions d’émergence et de son expression au sein du cadre analytique. La télépathie apparaît ainsi comme un concept dont l’intégration s’est faite jusqu’à présent de manière partielle et indirecte dans la pratique et la théorique psychanalytiques.
Freud’s writing on the topic of thought-transference stimulated controversy among analysts and original reflection on psychoanalytic understandings of the psyche. The notion of telepathy has also contributed significantly to the development of fundamental psychoanalytic concepts, including transference, projective identification, and primary forms of symbolization processes. The notion of telepathy, especially in light of current trends in post-Bionian and field theories, is used to outline an epistemological framework in which the clinical relevance of this notion becomes clear. Epistemological questions raised by telepathy and how this notion relates to the most originary and primary forms of the intersubjective relationship are addressed before questioning the conditions for the emergence of telepathy, its integration within contemporary psychoanalytic theory, and its ontological nature.
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