The Paperboy: The Dramaturgy of Development in Loewaldian-Relational Discourse

Abstract

In this paper, the authors present a reading of Loewald’s developmental and clinical thinking from a relational-developmental perspective, illustrating their ideas through the case of an 11-year-old boy presenting with quasi-psychotic symptoms. The paper explores Loewald’s developmental narrative as entailing an implicit view of the self as a relational matrix comprised of both time and space; an open, ever-expanding relational system within a shared psychic field, wherein time is a central psychic activity. The authors trace Loewaldian development as a movement toward greater organization of two inherently interlinked layers of experience, the primordial oceanic oneness (merger) and differentiated reality (separateness), each related to its own form of fundamental anxiety: engulfment and castration, respectively. Through the clinical material, these layers of experience are also discussed in relation to Loewald’s notion of language. The elements of Loewald’s developmental theory are discussed as preceding and inspiring subsequent relational thinking. Loewald, they contend, situates therapeutic action within the metaphor of theater. Drawing on his emphasis on the analyst’s role as a “director,” and his key concept of linking as well as his formulation of the functions of “transference” (being-with) and “differential” (being-ahead-of), the authors also reconceptualize two crucial theatrical roles performed in the analytic field: “merging actor” and “dramaturg.” These two critical, mutually-informing roles are demonstrated through the clinical material.

Keywords:

• developmental-relational model
• Loewald
• regression
• theater metaphor
• therapeutic action

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ It is important to note that our thinking is informed by and adjacent to various “field theories” in contemporary relational psychoanalysis (for example, Ringstrom, 2018; Stern, 2020). However, presenting these theories and situating our proposed model within their context would be beyond the scope of this paper. In addition, we wish to highlight that focal elements in the psychic field are not limited to human beings and may include animals, nature, art, etc.

² In presenting and discussing this material, we will shift between the first-person plural to indicate our shared conceptualization, and the singular, to highlight Shoulamit’s encounter and engagement with the case.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amir Atsmon

Amir Atsmon, MA, is a drama therapist trained in somatic work, practicing at the Merhavim Psychiatric Hospital, at an out-patient unit for patients with CPTSD, and in his private practice. He is a translator and editor of psychoanalytic literature and performs and teaches improvised theater internationally. He also has an MA in comparative literature.

Shoulamit Milch-Reich

Shoulamit Milch-Reich, PhD, has a double-track PhD in clinical psychology and developmental psychology. She teaches psychoanalysis and developmental psychopathology at Tel Aviv University, has a private practice, offers professional workshops and is invited to speak on television programs concerning child development and well-being. Her clinical work focuses on complex cases involving severe psychic distress, which allows her to apply and refine her developmental-relational psychoanalytic perspective.