Three Psychic Organizations and Their Relation to Certain Aspects of the Creative Process

Abstract

The author describes three different ways in which individuals in psychoanalysis may make use of the analyst. Each brings together affective and symbolic communication in a different way and draws the analyst into a different way of relating. It is suggested that these reflect three organizations of the individual's experience of the object and of himself in relation to the object. Though not encountered exclusively in creative artists, each of these organizations, which the author calls analyst-as-mental-function, analyst-as-medium, and analyst-as-audience/ interlocutor, is related to a specific aspect of the creative process.

Arrogance and Surprise in Psychoanalytic Process

“…My patient, Daniel, about whom I have previously written in a different context (Zimmer 2010), suffers from claustrophobia. Daniel had a suc-cessful and lucrative career for many years, but a recent economic downturn brought massive layoffs to his industry.…”