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Journal of Analytical Psychology, Volume 34, Number 3, July 1989
Several creative people experience profound states of futility, firstly in relation to their work and subsequently affecting almost all areas of their lives. I suggest that the purpose of futility is the dethronement of the ego which has tried to dominate rather than relate to the psychotic part of the personality, which forms part of the self. Two cases are presented to illustrate this notion. Finally, I draw attention to the importance of the other, whether this be in terms of the self, a personalised other, tradition or religious experience as a prerequisite for a transformation from futility into creativity.
International Review of Psycho-Analysis, Volume 16, Part 3, 1989
The limitations of psychoanalysis and its applicability in the session in ‘Analysis terminable and interminable’ are examined in terms of one-person and two-person psychology conceptual framework. Freud's requirement of ‘distance’ between ‘past’ and ‘present’, as well as emphasis on uncovering the influences of the past and on crisis as a limitation, relate to his use of a one-person (meta)psychology with a biological bent.
‘Self-less’ altruism, involving a transposition of self and object, illustrates the conceptual limitation of one-person psychology. The transposed configuration corresponds to the early conflict, prior to the establishment of preconscious memories; it appears through repetition as an actual conflict with the analyst. This early conflict is to be distinguished from the childhood conflict, appearing through the verbal associations and screen memories of the transference neurosis. Acknowledgement of infiniteness of emotions is a component of the depressive position.