Restlessness of the spirit: Exposure, loss, rage and salvation

Abstract

Feiner A. Restlessness of the Spirit. Exposure, Loss, Rage and Salvation. Int Forum Psychoanal 1997;6:157-166. Stockholm. ISSN 0803-706X.

The interpersonal tradition in psychoanalysis evolved out of the deterministic tradition. “Where it was, there I shall be” was revised to “Where I am, there it shall be”. The interpersonal point of view regards memory as a function of current experiences; the field of interaction of primary importance. Values, which are learned in the process of growth, are internalized as feelings, influence and are influenced by perceptions. Theri integration makes for self-definition. Under an aegis of safety, interpersonal analysis is made manifest by the scrutiny of feelings of irrelevance and dismissal which have colored self-definition. Since the interaction with the analyst is a recapitulation of the patient's content, the mutual addressing of where both patient and analyst are with each other makes the analysis manifest. This is the interpersonalist's valuation of the “how” over the “what”. Data from the analysis of a young married writer highlight these issues, especially the contradiction of the implicit analytic demand for change and its evident regard for the patient as he is. Any patient must confront the desire to discard an old self-definition and engage an uncertain, unknown future. The analytic relationship is seen as duplicitous when it cannot deliver justice. It relies on the restlessness of the patient to move to a current novelty by encouraging curiosity. Change comes from the inside out. For the patient, it is a leap of faith into a new self-definition of relevance with an emphasis on the usefulness of enduring in an uncertain world.