Tamara Fischmann

What is conceptual research in psychoanalysis

The development of psychoanalysis as a science and clinical practice has always relied heavily on various forms of conceptual research. Thus, conceptual research has clarifi ed, formulated and reformulated psychoanalytic concepts permitting to better shape the fi ndings emerging in the clinical setting. By enhancing clarity and explicitness in concept usage it has facilitated the integration of existing psychoanalytic thinking as well as the development of new ways of looking at clinical and extraclinical data. Moreover, it has offered conceptual bridges to neighbouring disciplines particularly interested in psychoanalysis, e.g. philosophy, sociology, aesthetics, history of art and literature, and more recently cognitive science/neuroscience. In the present phase of psychoanalytic pluralism, of worldwide scientifi c communication among psychoanalysts irrespective of language differences and furthermore of an intensifying dialogue with other disciplines, the relevance of conceptual research is steadily increasing. Yet, it still often seems insuffi ciently clear how conceptual research can be differentiated from clinical and empirical research in psychoanalysis. Therefore, the Subcommittee for Conceptual Research of the IPA presents some of its considerations on the similarities and the differences between various forms of clinical and extraclinical research, their specifi c aims, quality criteria and thus their specifi c chances as well as their specifi c limitations in this paper. Examples taken from six issues of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis in 2002‐3 serve as illustrations for seven different subtypes of conceptual research.

Psychoanalytic Treatment of ADHD Children in the Frame of Two Extraclinical Studies: The Frankfurt Prevention Study and the EVA Study

We are pleased that psychoanalytic therapy with so-called “ADHD-children” has been elected as subject of this journal. As we have discussed at length in a previous article, psychoanalysts in the last few years have been increasingly engaged in a heated discussion about ADHD (Leuzinger-Bohleber and Fischmann, 2010). As many of the contributions in this volume deal with psychoanalytic conceptualizations of the genesis, psychodynamics, and interdisciplinary approaches of ADHD, we will limit our contribution to the depiction of our attempts to provide psychoanalytic treatments — within the framework of divers prevention-programs — for “children at risk” in kindergarten. Children involved here also comprise those showing a preform of ADHD. The focus of this article is on psychoanalytic treatments of these children in the frame of two large extraclinical studies. Therefore, we will only briefly delineate our motivation to engage together with our colleagues of the Institute for Psychoanalytical Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy (IAKJP) in the endeavor of such early prevention projects. Subsequently the design, some results, and the exemplary supervision- and therapy-experiences with “ADHD children” in the Frankfurt Prevention Study and of the thereupon developed and still ongoing EVA Study will be summarized. We conclude with a short outlook.

What can psychoanalysis contribute to the current refugee crisis

Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber, Constanze Rickmeyer, Mariam Tahiri, Nora Hettich and Tamara Fischmann Sigmund-Freud-Institut, Myliusstr.20, 60323 Frankfurt/Main, Germany – m.leuzinger-bohleber@sigmund-freud-institut.de; rickmeyer@sigmund-freudinstitut.de;mariam.tahiri2207@gmail.com; hettich@sigmund-freud-institut.de Sigmund-Freud-Institut, Myliusstr.20, D-60488 Frankfurt a.M., Germany – fischmann@sigmund-freud-institut.de

Trauma, dream, and psychic change in psychoanalyses: a dialog between psychoanalysis and the neurosciences

To many psychoanalysts dreams are a central source of knowledge of the unconscious—the specific research object of psychoanalysis. The dialog with the neurosciences, devoted to the testing of hypotheses on human behavior and neurophysiology with objective methods, has added to psychoanalytic conceptualizations on emotion, memory, sleep and dreams, conflict and trauma. To psychoanalysts as well as neuroscientists, the neurological basis of psychic functioning, particularly concerning trauma, is of special interest. In this article, an attempt is made to bridge the gap between psychoanalytic findings and neuroscientific findings on trauma. We then attempt to merge both approaches in one experimental study devoted to the investigation of the neurophysiological changes (fMRI) associated with psychoanalytic treatment in chronically depressed patients. We also report on an attempt to quantify psychoanalysis-induced transformation in the manifest content of dreams. To do so, we used two independent methods. First, dreams reported during the cure of chronic depressed analysands were assessed by the treating psychoanalyst. Second, dreams reported in an experimental context were analyzed by an independent evaluator using a standardized method to quantify changes in dream content (Moser method). Single cases are presented. Preliminary results suggest that psychoanalysis-induced transformation can be assessed in an objective way.

Flucht, Migration und Trauma: Die Folgen für die nächste Generation

Die Schicksale des ausgesetzten Konigssohns Odipus, von Odysseus, Persephone, Jason, Medea und vielen anderen Gestalten der Antike erinnern daran, dass Migration, Flucht und Trauma so alt sind wie ...

Neuroscientifically Inspired Psychoanalysis: Chronic Depression as a Paradigmatical Example

What can neuropsychoanalysis contribute to psychodynamic therapy? This is the central question in the current chapter.

Sleep Studies in Serbian Victims of Torture: Analysis of Traumatic Dreams

One of prominent features related to the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is according to DSM-5 “recurrent distressing dreams in which the content and/or affect of the dream are related to the traumatic event(s)”. The phenomenology and the underlying dynamics of traumatic dreams are areas of study that still need to be understood.

Panel report, IPA Congress Buenos Aires 2017: Intimacy, chronic depression and trauma

ting as the place where the psychotic part of the personality can exist and can be named. The capacity to listen to the patient is transformative and signals symbolic representation as an alternative to concrete and primitive thinking, as Dr Romano highlighted when referring to her work with her patient whose trauma imprisoned him in sterility and frozen sexuality. One member of the audience helpfully reminded us that what is unrepresented produces an effect. The countertransference effect and receptivity of the analyst demands intimacy with one’s own and with the patient’s mind. To conclude, this was an interesting panel highlighting the important and difficult work in helping patients move from enactments and somatization through to symbolization.

¿Qué puede contribuir el psicoanálisis a la actual crisis de refugiados? Informes preliminares de PASO A PASO: Un proyecto piloto psicoanalítico para apoyar a los refugiados en un “campamento de primera acogida” e intervenciones de crisis con refugiados traumatizados

Traducido por Paola Jarast del original en inglés publicado con el título Comunicación especial ¿Qué puede contribuir el psicoanálisis a la actual crisis de refugiados?, en Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 98(4), 6:1168–1188. Todos los derechos reservados. Traducción autorizada de la edición en idioma inglés publicada por John Wiley & Sons Limited. La responsabilidad por la exactitud de la traducción es responsabilidad exclusiva del Instituto de Psicoanálisis y no responsabilidad de John Wiley & Sons Limited.

Evaluation of two prevention programs ‘Early Steps’ and ‘Faustlos’ in daycare centers with children at risk: the study protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial

BackgroundWhile early programs to prevent aggression and violence are widely used, only a few controlled trials of effectiveness of psychoanalytically based prevention programs for preschoolers have been evaluated. This study compares ‘Faustlos’ (a violence prevention program) and ‘Early Steps’ (a psychoanalytically based, whole daycare center intervention to prevent violence) in daycare centers in socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods.Methods/DesignPreschoolers in 14 daycare centers in Frankfurt, Germany, participate in a cluster randomized controlled trial (CRCT). The daycare centers were randomly chosen from a representative baseline survey of all Frankfurt’s daycare centers carried out in 2003 (n = 5,300) with the following stratifying factors: children’s aggressiveness, hyperactivity, anxiety and socioeconomic status. Additionally, the geographic identification of socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods regarding low-income children was taken from the Frankfurt Municipality Statistics. Children’s attachment classification and children’s aggressiveness, hyperactivity, anxiety and social competence are measured as outcome criteria before and after 2 years of intervention. The programs in the study aim to reach a high-risk population. Therefore, the combination of a random sampling of daycare centers out of a representative baseline survey in all daycare centers in Frankfurt and the application of official data on the local distribution of low-income children are unique features offered by the EVA study design. Data on preschooler’s attachment representations are collected in socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods for the first time.Trial registrationDRKS-ID: DRKS00003500