Robert Caper, a U.S. psychoanalyst and author, engages deeply with the foundations of psychoanalysis and W.R. Bion’s theories. He discusses the critical role of language in therapy, exploring how suggestion can divert from discovering deeper truths. Caper introduces the concept of maternal versus paternal containers, highlighting their influences on patient well-being. He stresses the analyst's responsibility to confront uncomfortable realities, rather than simply affirm patients’ beliefs, and delves into the complex dynamics of containment in therapeutic relationships.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Song and Dance
Condon filmed adults conversing and found they move their bodies subtly in sync with their speech.
This synchronization, or "song and dance," is present even in newborns and transcends language.
insights INSIGHT
Basic Assumption Mentality
Bion observed "basic assumption mentality" in groups, where unconscious, unrealistic beliefs drive behavior.
These unspoken agreements, like dependency or fear of an enemy, mirror infants' movement synchronization with speech.
insights INSIGHT
Freud and Suggestion
Freud initially used suggestion like Bernheim, but shifted to free association, uncovering transference.
However, he still used positive transference strategically, blurring the lines between analysis and suggestion.
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Beyond and Thoughts Too Deep for Words, Psychoanalysis, Suggestion, and the Language of the Unconscious
Beyond and Thoughts Too Deep for Words, Psychoanalysis, Suggestion, and the Language of the Unconscious
Psychoanalysis, Suggestion, and the Language of the Unconscious
Robert Caper
Robert Caper's "Beyond and Thoughts Too Deep for Words" delves into the core of psychoanalysis, exploring its relationship with other therapeutic approaches. The book examines the concepts of containment and technique, drawing heavily on the work of W.R. Bion. Caper challenges the tendency of psychotherapy to resort to suggestion, emphasizing the importance of truth-seeking in the psychoanalytic endeavor. He introduces a novel distinction between maternal and paternal containment, enriching the understanding of the therapeutic process. The book offers a profound exploration of psychoanalysis's foundations and its enduring relevance in contemporary practice.
Bion and Thoughts Too Deep for Words: Psychoanalysis, Suggestion, and the Language of the Unconscious (Routledge, 2020) is Robert Caper's most recent book, and it offers a sustained exploration and discussion of key problematics that have informed psychoanalysis since its inception. Caper offers a nuanced discussion of psychotherapy's tendency to fall into suggestion, and thus move away from an exploration of the truth, which he considers to be psychoanalysis's central task. The psychoanalyst has to mirror back to the patient who they are, rather than keep them in a state of blithe affirmation, and thereby inspire in them the notion that the therapist, like the analysand, is unwilling to explore what lies beneath the rubble of conscious beliefs and statements.
In his discussion of these matters, Caper draws on a wide range of thinkers, most importantly that of W.R. Bion, asserting that there are always "thoughts too big for words," which is a reminder that there is always more. He hightlights the importance of the aesthetic drawing on Meltzer, and he introduces a new distinction between maternal and paternal container.
I greatly enjoyed both reading the book and talking to Robert, and I happily recommend this book to anyone seeking to reconnect to psychoanalysis's foundations, utilizing the British school's key thinkers.
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