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Biomedical subjects

Antonino Ferro

Publications and source records attributed to Antonino Ferro.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Unity of analysis: similarities and differences in the analysis of children and grown-ups.

When comparing child analysis with that of grown-ups, we are confronted with a substantial unity of psychoanalytic method, beyond the apparent differences. The more we consider the analysis as a here-and-now interaction between analyst and patient with transformative potential, the more age-dependent differences become blurred, and the specificity of a particular analytic couple acquires more significance. At the same time, what seems to be all the same--the actual patient before us--is quite different, with several components (the child, adolescent, and adult parts), implying a need to recognize the part we should address at any given point.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Trauma, reverie, and the field.

The author uses a clinical vignette to demonstrate complex concepts at work--concepts such as those derived from a productive grafting of Bion's thinking onto the concept of the psychoanalytic field. The underlying theory is narrated by the use of images, which the author finds to be the most appropriate way to demonstrate this theory at work--a theory of the mind based on the concept of digestibility of emotions, as well as the progressive introjection of instruments to render such an operation possible. Key points include the waking dream thought, the analyst's reverie, unsaturated interpretations, continual re-dreaming on the content of the session as permitted by the field, and the development of the ability to metabolize emotional contents.

Countertransference↗
PubMed2006

Clinical implications of Bion's thought.

The author focuses on some clinical implications of Bion's thought. He takes into particular consideration the great technical importance of Bion's concept of 'waking dream thought'. He also proposes some developments of Bion's thought. Psychoanalytic exercises like those suggested by Bion are presented along with clinical material in order to render the author's theoretical-technical ideas as clear as possible. Furthermore, he deals with the fertile connection between Bion's theories and the field concept in psychoanalysis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Which reality in the psychoanalytic session?

The author discusses how the analyst's theory influences what happens in the psychoanalytic session, and, in particular, how it determines which of several possible realities become the focus of attention. An overview of Bionian thought and how it informs the author's way of working is provided. In elaborating his use of the narrative level in the session and other key concepts, the author presents three brief clinical vignettes.

Humans↗
PubMed2004

The psychoanalyst as individual: self-analysis and gradients of functioning.

The authors discuss the position of the analyst as an individual and the idea that his mental functioning can be seen as a meaningful element of the analytic field. The first part of the article shows the importance of the analyst's self-analysis, with particular attention to periods when the analyst is facing a difficult time, self-analysis in supervision, and the exploration of transgenerational influences. The authors go on to discuss the many gradients of the analyst's mental functioning, and these are mirrored in the patient's text, an indication of attunement.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Marcella: the transition from explosive sensoriality to the ability to think.

The author discusses an analytic case in which it was necessary to first address the patient's need for containment of her protoemotions--her sensoriality--before the analysis could proceed along more standard lines, with interpretation of the transference, work on displacement and aspects of her childhood history, and so forth. Prior to treatment, the patient had resorted to a sort of affective autism in order not to experience dangerously overwhelming emotions, and her emotional lethargy in sessions at first engendered similar feelings in the analyst, making progress impossible until a container was established for her projective identifications.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Superego transformations through the analyst's capacity for reverie.

The author discusses the application of certain Kleinian and Bionian principles to psychoanalytic work with patients who suffer from symptoms arising out of pathological superego functioning. Clinical vignettes are presented to demonstrate how the analyst's willingness to employ reverie, and to move from conviction-based interpretations to more open and tentative ones, can help such patients to change maladaptive behavioral patterns that may have stemmed from early interactions with an unavailable or nonreceptive Other.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Some implications of Bion's thought: the waking dream and narrative derivatives.

Following up Bion's idea that dreaming is a continuous process that takes place in waking life as well as in sleep, the author develops its theoretical and technical implications. He describes the narrative derivatives of waking dream thought as the means, or interface, whereby access may be had, albeit indirectly, to the constantly forming sequences of alpha-elements. Examples of the formation of these sequences out of childhood memories, present-day experiences and sexual feelings are given. Reference is also made to the notion of the analytic field. The author goes on to demonstrate the clinical value of these concepts both for studying the session's microtransformations and as a means of in-depth examination of the analyst's own mental functioning, including its lapses, in a session. Abundant clinical material is presented to help analysts who normally apply different models of the mind share these ideas. Finally, it is suggested that night dreams result from a further elaboration of the elements formed during waking life.

Adult↗