‘IF EACH COULD BE HOUSED IN SEPARATE IDENTITIES…’. THERAPY AS CONVERSATION WITH CONTRADICTORY PARTS OF THE SELF

Abstract

‘I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of separation of these elements’ (Stephenson 1886, p. 70).

‘The division is not always neat, and the parts are never equal in frequency of emergence or length of stay’ (Goldberg 1999, p. 3).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Arnold Goldberg, Edward Khantzian and Daniel Weegmann for their suggestions.

Notes

1. It is of interest to read Stephenson’s novel alongside Freud’s (1919) erudite psychoanalytic/literary study, The Uncanny (Das Unheimliche), where he traces various meanings around the word unheimliche; for example, the ‘uncomfortable’, ‘sinister’, ‘frightening’, ‘un homely’, ‘alien’. There he makes reference to the theme of the ‘double’, sometimes involving mirrors or shadows, which can become a thing of terror. Freud also speculates in the essay on the ‘compulsion to repeat’.

2. Stephenson responded to and developed a theme of the double and duplicity already established in Victorian literature. In many ways there was a fascination with duality and the ‘other’ within, linked to a variety of moral, social and political discourses of the day. The Edinburgh of Stephenson’s day, for example, contained stark social contrasts and the novel portrays both the respectable, inhibited world of the bourgeois gentleman as well as what happens elsewhere, at the borders and beyond (cf. the night time, the alleyway and the sinister back entrance of the house). The idea of an underworld and the dark often signified this realm, known about but covered up, condemned but always pressing into visibility. Prevalent social preoccupations with morality and ‘immoral classes’ are graphically charted in Stedman Jones’s Outcast London (1971). In terms of the literature of the day, Saposnik (1974) considers the location of Stephenson’s work within a culture haunted by a picture of man’s inescapable divisions, as does Miyoshi (1969) who explores the gothic and romantic expressions of this in Victorian literature. As for the possible links between Stephenson’s own upbringing and the content of his writings, see the illuminating research of McNally and Florescu (2001).

3. By all accounts, Victorian society, particularly in wealthier circles, was full of drug use. For example, laudanum, a mixture of alcohol and opium, was widely used and opium production was widespread in some areas, such as the Fens. Stephenson often experimented with drugs (McNally and Florescu 2001).

4. The written and oral traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous frequently use an image of the drinker’s negative self, like a negative personality that has come to dominate the life of the person concerned. Bill W. (1967), co‐founder of AA, associated this negative self with the building up of resentments and grievances, which, if left unchecked, propel the individual back to the bottle. AA members often invoke the legendary figure of John Barleycorn (traditionally, a character who is the personification of barley and the alcoholic beverages which derive from it), ‘sitting on one’s shoulder’ and threatening to undermine a person’s progress. Related to this is the picture in the fellowship tradition of the prideful, inflated individual who is unable to turn to others, much less accept their advice and whose omnipotence eventually comes crashing down. A member of NA said to me that this is known in the trade of as ‘the committee of one’ (see Weegmann 2002b, where I argue that much can be gained from integrating psychodynamic approaches and to addiction and insights of the fellowship tradition).

5. The psychodynamics of gambling deserves more study and here I am emphasizing its potential for self re‐creation. The anticipatory feelings can be tremendous and Balint’s (1959) work on thrill suggests three elements: fear, voluntary entry and hope for survival, all, I think, highly relevant to Tony. Numerous gambling expressions and metaphors are part of everyday language, reinforcing such expectations: ‘shuffling the cards’, ‘spinning the wheel’, ‘safe bet’ and so on. Drug metaphors are also commonplace in modern parlance, such as ‘on a high’, ‘feeling the rush, ‘a great buzz’, ‘what’s he on?’, etc.

6. In terms of the time dimension, I recall another drug user whom I saw over several years who on one occasion of rage threatened me with a return to heroin. He said something like, ‘I can inject myself with heroin much faster than you can inject me with hope’.

7. Since finishing this paper, I have read Grotstein’s (1999) excellent chapter on alter ego or ‘second self’ phenomena. He makes an important clinical point about contrasting counterparts of the personality each struggling for their ‘day in court’ and internal fears of progress.