Object Relations and the Ineffable Bodily Dimension

Abstract

Greenberg and Mitchell's (1983) book has contributed significantly to the dissemination of Relational psychoanalysis and the affirmation of psychoanalytic pluralism in Italy. I will consider some aspects of Italian psychoanalysis since the publication of this historic volume, as well as recent developments focusing on the consideration of primitive mental states. Present day Relational psychoanalysis locates states of primary rootedness and subjectivity in the body and in sensory experience. Bodily and sensory experience can also be a distinctive area of exchange and working through in the analytic relationship, and I will illustrate this with two clinical vignettes.

Keywords:

• Body
• enactment
• Greenberg and Mitchell
• intersubjectivity
• Italian psychoanalysis
• Object Relations
• pluralism

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Riccardo Lombardi

Riccardo Lombardi, M.D., psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, is a member of the International Psychoanalytic Association, and a Training and Supervising Analyst of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society. He is in private practice in Rome, Italy.