Anaesthesia or psychotherapy: Eradicating thoughts or working them through

Abstract

The author presents two sessions from the analysis of a depressive narcissistic doctor, which are characterised by a mixture of co‐operation and pseudo‐co‐operation. The dialogue is in parts intellectualised, complicated, lifeless and schizoid. Points at which the patient shows surprising insights are then partly denigrated by him, on the basis that change is not to be expected. Semi‐lifeless contact assists the defensive claustrophobia that he experiences in meaningful contact. It becomes very clear that he is then afraid of entering into an openly aggressive conflict that entails the existential threat of object loss. However, this has so far been avoided. The secret pleasure in an anal‐narcissistic, sadomasochistic addiction to doubt persists in the partial denigration. The patient's artificially maintained self‐doubt and doubt of the object reinforce a genuine confusion that consists in never knowing exactly what lies behind the helpful and needed object.

Time on my hands: The dilemma of the chronically late patient.

“…Closer to the subject matter of this article, there are a handful of articles dealing in one way or another with lateness, but usually with occasional or exceptional lateness of the patient (Barrows, 1999; Ferro, 2003; Kaplan, 1990; Ogden, 2002; Paniagua, 1998; Spero, 1993, Wolf, 1983). Only Hinz (2003) addresses the problem of chronic lateness. The sparseness of discussion among analysts of this topic leads me to think that more careful attention to it may be called for.…”