Relational Psychoanalysis

Question 1

People?

Answer 1

Stephen Mitchell

Question 2

Postmodernism

Answer 2

-Emphasis on shift from rationalism and objectivism to subjectivism and personal meaning
-Meaning is found not in objective, rational perspectives, but in local, personal perspectives
-Experience is partially co-created

Question 3

Relational psychoanalysis

Answer 3

-We are shaped by and embedded in a matrix of relationships
-Understanding comes only within the tapestry of relationships, past and present

Question 4

Relational-conflict model

Answer 4

-Emphasizes conflict among desires, wishes and fears, and relational configurations and that conflicts are within relational configurations
-Simplistic to view recipient of abuse as merely the passive victim, but also as in conflict over being both loved and abused by same person(s)
-Developmental deficits lead to longings and fantasies that become conflictual, which results in obstacles to obtaining needed developmental experiences, which in turn generate more conflictual fantasies

Question 5

3 emphases

Answer 5

-The self: focus on understanding the self, identifications
-The other/object: focus on ties to others that hold us together
-The space between the two: interactions/mutual regulation

Question 6

Treatment? (Gambit)

Answer 6

Gambit offered
-Playful participation: path between contrasting dangers of complicity and challenge; willingness to play and accept rules of engagement some, yet question why it must be so
-Process enactments

Question 7

One vs Two-person Psychology

Answer 7

Multiplicity of selves:
Both one cohesive self and multiple versions of self