The fear of staging: Considerations on the fears of a young psychoanalyst

Abstract

The article deals with some of the most common fears that can manifest in young training analysands during clinical practice. Viewed using a theatrical metaphor, the psychoanalytic situation that develops is conceived as a representation of the conflicts and deep suffering that the patient wishes the therapist to understand and alleviate. The two can be seen as actors who bring to the stage a scene involving both deeply, and which requires the right balance between illusion and reality to be therapeutically effective. The analytic theatre evokes characters that desire to be brought to the stage, and gives life to a drama that demands to be represented through the characters themselves, as happens in the play Six characters in search of an author by Pirandello (1925). Therefore, analysts need to take on a role that they are implicitly required to perform and that can at times be perceived as rather uncomfortable, while in other instances it can be rewarding. Sometimes they are the main character, while in other situations they are the audience; they may be a travel companion or a persecutor.

Keywords:

• Fear
• psychoanalytic relationship
• psychoanalytic field
• role responsiveness
• psychoanalytic theatre
• Pirandello

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alessandro Grasso

Alessandro Grasso graduated in clinical psychology at the Università degli Studi di Pavia and in Psychotherapy at Società Italiana Psicoanalisi della Relazione (SIPRe), Italy. He is a consultant psychologist and psychotherapist in a child psychiatry clinic in Domodossola, Italy, and in the Ananke Milano Centre for the Treatment of the Eating Disorders. He works privately as a psychologist and psychotherapist with adults and adolescent in Vigevano and Milan.