Transformations and the rebirth of the true unconscious subject: An intersubjective perspective

Abstract

The transformations that lead to the rebirth of the true-unconscious-subject-as-I (TUs-as-I) in the unconscious of the patient's mind is discussed. The TUs-as-I is the vehicle and main exponent of self-realization, the basis of the intention for freedom of will, for creative motive, and for the construction of meaning. The unconscious ego is the representative of the TUs-as-I, and in cases where it has been devitalized, the patient's unconscious ego/me is lost, broken, or has become “dead.” It is suggested that, in the analytic situation, apart from serving as an external object available for the patient's unconscious imaginary identification, the analyst as the Other also functions as an external Subject, who invites the analysand to respond to his discourse/logos as a supposed-to-be Subject and to identify with his symbolic call. If the patient accepts the call and responds, transformations of his ego/self structures take place that lead to rebirth of the TUs-as-I, to a regenesis of new ego structures, and to a catastrophic change of the “dead imaginary ego-object formations.” The present work discusses certain factors and issues that facilitate the regenesis process, the emergence of a “live true self,” and offers clinical material for the issues discussed.

Keywords:

• intersubjectivity
• transformations
• rebirth of the true-unconscious-subject-as-I
• hallucinosis
• transference
• countertransference
• brain plasticity

Notes

¹“Subject” with a capital S denotes the individual as whole person; “subject” with a small s denotes the true unconscious subject-as-I (TUs-as-I).

²Modell, (2010, p. 83) writes: “The construction of meaning is a salient function of the unconscious ego or what I prefer to call the unconscious I.” Modell renames the ego as “I.” For a critical discussion on this issue, see Kyriazis (2010, p. 72–73 and notes 5 and 6.

³From his mother's account, we know that X suffered a kind of death in his mother's arms at the age of 18 months, from fever convulsions. For a long time after that, his mother was obsessed with the idea that her child could die. When he was a little older, she said that he saw her distress, felt her fear, and consoled her, telling her that he was not going to die and that she shouldn't be afraid. In a way, the mother suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome. From that time on, X was condemned, as Winnicott (1963/1972, 1971/1993b, 1974) would say, to disprove the truth of her unconscious preconception, that he was dead, in her gaze.

⁴Ogden (1994, p. 3) writes: “In early developmental terms, it is the father (or the ‘father-in-the-mother’) who intercedes between mother and infant (or more accurately, the mother-infant), thus creating a psychological space in which the elaboration of the depressive position … occurs”.