A Discussion of “The Analyst’s Necessary Nonsovereignty and the Generative Power of the Negative”

Abstract

The author discusses the principal themes in Jade McGleughlin’s paper (this issue): the to-and-fro movement between the negative and confusion in the session, the ever-present risk of the analyst’s sovereignty, and acknowledgment of the analyst’s own vulnerability. He draws inspiration from the many original and often unexpected aspects of the paper to reflect upon new developments in Bion Field Theory. In order to facilitate theoretical discussion, like Jade McGleughlin, the author makes reference to the world of art and literature. Particular attention is given to the theme of the creative potential of the unknown and the ongoing challenge faced by analysts to open themselves to the new and as yet unthought-of as opposed to going on seeing what they have been used to seeing.

This article refers to:

The Analyst’s Necessary Nonsovereignty and the Generative Power of the Negative

View responses to this article:

The Impossibility of Meaning: Joining and Rejoining: Reply to Cooney, Ferro, and Stern

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Notes on contributors

Antonino Ferro

Antonino Ferro, M.D., psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, is a Training and Supervising Analyst in the Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI), the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). He is also President of the Psychoanalytic Centre of Pavia and the former President of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society. He received the Sigourney Award in 2007.