Biomedical subjects

Massimo Giannoni

Publications and source records attributed to Massimo Giannoni.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

How the mind understands other minds: cognitive psychology, attachment and reflective function.

Jung's epistemological relativistic attitude was very advanced for his time and very much in line with the contemporary philosophy of science. Further, Jung states that the patient's unconscious has the capacity to represent itself by creating metaphors which give the therapist all the help he might need in treating his patient. As such, Jungian analysts have not been encouraged to embark on theoretical work and as a result, the Jungian movement has been lacking those theories that connect general psychological principles with clinical practices. In an attempt to enlarge our 'middle-range theories', we shall discuss Peter Fonagy's concept of reflective function. In our opinion, the theoretical hypothesis regarding the instinct of reading the mind (Baron-Cohen 1995) and Fonagy's idea of reflective function are extremely useful in our Jungian clinical practice and these concepts are utilizable because they are not at odds with analytical psychology's general epistemological and theoretical framework.

Cognition↗

PubMed2004

Epistemological premise, developmental idea, main motivation in Jung's and Kohut's psychoanalysis: looking for some analogies.

We are living the passage from the positivistic ideal to a new cultural climate which may be called post-modernism, subjectivism or perspectivism and in which we have lost the conviction that it is possible to reach an absolute knowledge. This climate can become a strong stimulus to a dialogue and a comparison among different psychoanalytical schools and between psychoanalysis and empirical research to find some of the reference points we need in our work. In my paper I will compare self psychology and analytic psychology in order to point out several strong analogies. Firstly, they are based on the same methodological option which gathers knowledge through an empathic understanding 'from within'. According to both Jung and Kohut the individual has within himself a psycho-biological potential, an individual pre-formed core that asks to evolve completely: the central motivation of human beings is the realization of their own individuality. This shared theoretical and epistemological ground conveys convergences in the clinical field between the two disciplines (interpretation of dreams, respect of resistance, diminishing attitude regarding sexual drives, etc.) and specifically determines an attitude of the analyst, which respects the individual process of development, which pays attention to the inner experience, and which gives importance to the analyst's and the patient's subjective experience.

Humans↗

PubMed2003

Psychoanalysis and empirical research.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the idea of reason began to lose its universal and absolute value, undermining the view of science as a form of objective knowledge that reveals a fundamental reality. These changes have also had an impact on psychoanalysis, leading to a proliferation of theories and the end of a positivistic approach, epitomized by a 'neutral' analyst who knows the contents of the patient's mind. Hermeneutic philosophy provides a tool with which to explore both theoretical multiplicity and the contribution of the analyst's subjectivity to the analytic process. Furthermore, a hermeneutic approach does not have to be hostile to empirical science, but can be integrated with it in a 'scientific-hermeneutic model' in which historical and biological principles are given equal value.

Empiricism↗