On “Polygamous Analysis”

Abstract

The close relationships among Ferenczi's analysands at the time the Clinical Diary was written are explored, and their potential influences on their analyses are discussed. It is suggested that the fact that "a virtual group" emerged in this context may have sabotaged to some extent Ferenczi's clinical work, because this setting did not allow the open joint exploration possible in an actual analytic group, and at the same time stood in the way of achieving "a background of safety" fostered by the privacy and confidentiality of a fully individual analysis. Several examples are given of situations that may have made analysands feel betrayed or abandoned by the divided loyalties of their analyst, and may have created painful splits in Ferenczi's own countertransferences.

Decoding Ferenczi’s Clinical Diary: Biographical Notes

“…There are important ways in which their lives overlapped and were entangled with each other. It is no surprise the phrase "six degrees of separation," originated from the famous Hungarian writer and friend of Ferenczi, Frigyes Karinthy (1929), and understanding the interconnectedness of the patients within the Diary further complicates the clinical picture (Berman, 2015). was surely Ferenczi's most colorful and adventurous patient.…”