Introduction to Showing up in Chaotic Times: Three Clinical Reports, with Commentary

Mitchell Wilson, Donald Moss, and Chris Lovett, with commentary by Giuseppe Civitarese.

What you are about to read are somewhat revised presentations given on a panel at the 54th International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) Congress in Lisbon in the summer of 2025. The Congress itself had the title Psychoanalysis: An Anchor in Chaotic Times. One, perhaps, should not take too seriously the overarching theme of a psychoanalytic conference. In this case, the metaphor of an anchor works both ways. In rough seas, an anchor can be stabilizing; that is its purpose. An anchor can also cause trouble, and not of the good kind. The same goes for the adjective chaotic, which, frankly, doesn't seem quite right as a descriptor of the times we live in. Certainly, the rise of authoritarianism in many Western countries is deeply concerning, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight to this regressive development. For those living in Gaza, the word chaos also doesn't fully capture the brutality and murder happening there daily. Authoritarian times? Murderous times? These descriptors seem more to the point, though, as we know, language has its inherent, structural limits.

In this context, we toed the line of the IPA, and titled our panel Showing Up in Chaotic Times: Three Clinical Reports.

Showing Up. You will read about different ways of showing up, various instances of how showing up manifests itself in the analyst, in the analysis, and in life. Implied, but not explicitly stated, is a belief, a faith, that in these ways of showing up, something genuine happens, and a

sincerity of purpose comes through. This sincerity of purpose is often under pressure, as our capacities as analysts are tested, and the structural limitations of our theories and the language we use to grasp the realities before us cause us to stumble. An