The Experience of Separation-Individuation in Infancy and its Reverberations through the Course of Life: 2. Adolescence and Maturity

Abstract

preceded his opening comments by introducing Albert J. Solnit, the chairman of the first panel in this series of three on the title theme. Solnit concisely referred to the previous panel on Infancy and Childhood and paid tribute to hlargaret Mahler's contributions to our understanding of this early phase in development. Anthony then introduced the panel and noted with pleasure that in all three presentations, theory and practice are interwoven. He indicated that in his experience as an analyst he is always sensible of some refinement of individuation proceeding in himself as he analyzes, and that one's identity as an analyst undergoes many vicissitudes over the years of practice. He felt sure that the different fact$ of theory presented by this panel would enrich our view of this significant developmental period.This systematic analy!ic examination of the life cycle should help to pool a great deal of Lmowledge generally kept partitioned. hloreover, it has two further advantages: it enables analysts to look at a particular process, e.g., separation-individuation, against the background of different segments of developmental time, as well as to scrutinize a particular stage of development, e.g., adolescence, in terms of the process. These two perspectives can fruitfully complement each other, but there are some built-in problems to be considered. A developmental phase, such as adolescence, with its hyperfluidity, might not provide the optimal time for investigating phenomena in depth. Anna Freud has spoken not only of "our bewilderment when faced with all the intricacies of the Held at the Spring hleeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Dallas. hlay. 1972. Chairman: E. James Anthony, h1.D.

Separation-Individuation Phenomena in Adulthood: General Concepts and the Fifth Individuation

“…In summarizing the panel on adolescence and maturity, Marcus (1973) addressed the critical difference in the use of these terms in infancy, adolescence, and adulthood. In the first individuation, representational differentiation (Schafer's term) is at the core of the separationindividuation concept (p. 165).…”

“…In the early 1970s, the American Psychoanalytic Association sponsored three coordinated panels under the title "The Experience of Separation-Individuation in Infancy and its Reverberations Through the Course of Life" (Marcus 1973;Sternschein 1973;Winestine 1973). The seminal ideas presented in these continue to be elaborated a quarter of a century later.…”

“…Erna Furman made this point in the second panel, on adolescence and maturity (Marcus 1973), when she emphasized the central role of genital instinctual forces in adolescent development. Thus, the adolescent signif icance of pregenital events, including separationindividuation, depends on how the adolescent deals with current genital impulses and the developmental task of integrating sexual identity and activity.…”

“…The use of these terms outside of the context in which Mahler originally proposed them has been criticized. For instance, in the panel on adolescence and maturity (Marcus 1973), Schafer and Furman opposed Blos's use of the term "individuation" for adolescence because it did not deepen our understanding of the phase. Furman emphasized the need to see the phenomenon of individuation in adolescence in terms of oedipal resolution and current development conf lict.…”