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Luis Kancyper, a member of the Argentinean Psychoanalytic Association, is a very active and creative analyst. Earlier in his career he published several papers on metapsychology and psychoanalytic technique. In recent years his focus has shifted to studying the way in which the Oedipal, narcissistic, and fraternal axes contribute in a rather complex manner to the constitution of psychic life of individuals, families, and social groups. His interest in mythology (the biblical myth of Jacob) and literature (Borges, Kafka) have inspired him in his exploration of the confrontation of generations, the sibling complex, resentment and remorse, and friendship.
Here we will describe some of Kancyper's most prevalent areas of interest associated with the sibling complex.
Kancyper addresses two aspects of trauma inherent to the sibling complex. The first refers to the fact that the presence and awareness of the “sibling” (the similar-other) is by nature traumatic. It is a psychic event that is independent of the presence of real relationship with siblings in the family. This traumatic psychic event requires considerable psychic work.
The second aspect of trauma inherent to the sibling complex is the traumatic potential of real relationships with siblings in the family. A pertinent question here is how these two traumatic components play themselves out. In other words, how does the working through of an inevitable traumatic aspect of the encounter with the “sibling-similar-other” become intertwined with real traumatic events such as abuse in the family or the death or the illness of a sibling? In Kancyper's psychotherapy with Laura, working through these two traumatic components of the sibling complex