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H Faimberg

Publications and source records attributed to H Faimberg.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Misunderstanding and psychic truths.

The author begins by pointing out that the psychoanalytical method and the concept of the unconscious are necessary conditions if the concept of psychic reality is to maintain its psychoanalytical relevance. She emphasises the importance of the concept of Nachträglichkeit, or retroactive assignment of new meaning, as a link between the concepts of psychic reality and historical truths on the one hand and decentred listening and misunderstanding on the other. Recalling the Freudian development of the concept of psychic reality, she stresses that 'the other' is present from the outset in the constitution of the psyche; she discusses the relations between intrasubjectivity and intersubjectivity in the transference and concludes that, through the function of 'listening to listening', misunderstanding becomes the royal path to the discovery of the patient's psychic reality. Some clinical examples are discussed in detail to illustrate the function of decentred listening. The author's viewpoint is not based on criteria concerning a correspondence, or lack of correspondence, between psychic reality and material reality. Her aim is to link psychic reality and historical truths as a way of overcoming solipsism.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

'Listening to listening'.

The author links the function of analytic listening to Freud's concept of Nachträglichkeit, which she defines as the retroactive assignment of meaning rather than mere deferred action, and derives the notion of 'listening to listening' from their combination. A dialectical conception of time is proposed, with interpretation involving three logical phases, respectively incumbent on the analyst, on the patient and on both. Two clinical examples are given, showing how the patient speaks and listens from a position dictated by his unconscious identifications, which also cause him to reinterpret the analyst's interpretations and his silences. By listening to the patient's reassignment of meaning to his interpretations, the analyst can discover the patient's unconscious identifications and, together with the patient, thereby facilitate the process of psychic change. The author contends that by the function of 'listening to listening' it is possible to overcome the dilemma of whether the analyst with his interpretation or the patient with his own reinterpretation of it is right.

Communication Barriers↗
PubMed1992

The countertransference position and the countertransference.

The concept of countertransference assumes different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. And yet it is an essential concept whose absence would have important theoretical and practical consequences. At the risk of increasing the psychoanalytic Babel, I propose the concept of the counter-transferential position which, in my view, allows a better understanding of the multiple determinations which impinge upon the analyst during the session. In a brief clinical example, I examine a 'countertransferential symptom' and the analyst's function of 'listening to listening'.

Affect↗
PubMed1990

Repetition and surprise: a clinical approach to the necessity of construction and its validation.

The analysis of a dream revealed, to the surprise of both patient and analyst, identifications corresponding to different times and places. The (re)construction led to the discovery of conflicts involving three generations. We explore the clinical conditions for this discovery, and we develop the links between the concepts of 'historicity' and '(re)construction'. The concept of (re)construction, in its very structure, implies a very fertile paradox: being by definition retroactive, it is at the same time anticipatory, in the sense that it establishes a pre-condition for access to psychical truths. The revelation of unconscious identifications (telescoping of generations) through construction enables the analyst to gain a retroactive understanding of how the patient has understood the interpretations. The analyst obtains thus the means to understand (also in a retroactive way) the value and the limits of his interpretations.

Adult↗