Jan Abram, a distinguished British psychoanalyst and a leading scholar on Winnicott, dives deep into her work on the concept of 'surviving objects' and their impact on psychic health. She explores the significance of early maternal relationships and the dynamics of transference in therapy. Abram highlights the emotional complexities of psychoanalytic practice, particularly concerning gender dynamics and the terror of non-survival. Using art to visualize her theories, she opens up new avenues in understanding resilience and identity within the therapeutic context.
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insights INSIGHT
Winnicottian Survival
Survival, in a Winnicottian sense, is an ongoing process.
It represents a capacity to go beyond merely outliving, emphasizing continuous aliveness.
insights INSIGHT
Intrapsychic Surviving Object
The intrapsychic surviving object isn't a concrete thing but a mental concept.
It represents the infant's internalized experience of the mother's responsiveness to their needs.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Japanese Artwork Example
Abram uses a Japanese ukiyo-e artwork to illustrate the mother-infant relationship.
The mother, holding her baby, presents a carp fish, symbolizing the introduction to the external world and the 'third'.
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While not explicitly named in the provided text, it is heavily implied that Jan Abram's work is based on D.W. Winnicott's theories. Winnicott was a highly influential British pediatrician and psychoanalyst known for his work on the development of the self and the importance of the early mother-infant relationship. His concepts, such as the transitional object and the holding environment, have profoundly impacted the field of psychoanalysis. Winnicott's writing style is often described as elusive and complex, requiring careful study to fully grasp its nuances. His work continues to be studied and debated by psychoanalysts worldwide.
The Surviving Object
The Surviving Object
Psychoanalytic Clinical Essays on Psychic Survival-Of-The-Object
Jan Abram
Jan Abram's "The Surviving Object" delves into the psychoanalytic concept of psychic survival, exploring the continuous process of navigating life's challenges. The book examines the intrapsychic surviving and non-surviving objects, crucial for understanding early relationships and their impact on the psyche. Abram uses vivid clinical vignettes to illustrate her theoretical elaborations, drawing on Winnicott's work to illuminate the complexities of psychic survival. The book offers a profound contribution to the independent tradition in British psychoanalysis, enriching our understanding of the therapeutic process. It challenges traditional views on holding and reparation, emphasizing the importance of the analytic setting and the analyst's role in facilitating the patient's journey.
Catch Them Before They Fall
Christopher Bollas
Christopher Bollas's "Catch Them Before They Fall" explores the complexities of severe psychological distress and the challenges faced by clinicians in working with patients on the brink of breakdown. The book delves into the intense therapeutic relationship required in such cases, highlighting the importance of empathy, attunement, and the analyst's capacity to withstand the patient's projections. Bollas emphasizes the need for a flexible and responsive approach, adapting to the patient's unique needs and vulnerabilities. The book offers a profound exploration of the therapeutic process, emphasizing the transformative potential of the analytic encounter even in the face of extreme suffering. It serves as a valuable resource for clinicians working with severely disturbed individuals.
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Written in epistolary form, the novel tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant and ambitious scientist who, driven by Enlightenment-era ideas of progress and science, creates a living being from dead body parts. However, upon seeing the creature come to life, Frankenstein is horrified and abandons it. The creature, shunned by society due to its appearance, seeks revenge against its creator, leading to a series of tragic events. The novel explores themes of guilt, loss, and the emotional and moral consequences of scientific hubris, blending elements of Gothic and Romantic literature.
Clinician and psychoanalyst Jan Abram proposes and elaborates the dual concept of an intrapsychic surviving and non surviving object. She extends Winnicottian technique by highlighting the centrality of the analysand playing with the object. Across eight chapters she develops this theory of survival, while also exploring the terror of non-survival, and its implications for psychic health, the fear of WOMAN as underlying misogny; Winnicott's theory of desire; and the role of the father as part of a paternal integrate. Abram draws on the work of André Green and Thomas Ogden, and also makes use of a Japanese ukiyo-e to visualize her argument.
This is an extraordinary volume on Winnicottian metapsychlogy by its foremost scholar, opening up some of the lesser known aspects of Winnicott's work. The Surviving Object: Psychoanalytic Clinical Essays on Psychic Survival-Of-The-Object (Routledge, 2021) transcends an established context of reference that emphasizes holding, by honing in on questions of formlessness, the significance of survival, and the incommunicado core. Furthermore, Abram asserts the intrapsychic dimension of the surviving object, thereby crucially rectifying the view that Winnicottian clinical practice is purely interpersonal.
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