You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
SILVERMAN AND LACHMANN have presented some of the research findings in support of their hypothesis that the arousal of unconscious oneness fantasies may encourage adaptive responses. They further argue that their data is consistent with Kohut's (1977) therapeutic use of empathic responsiveness with developmentally arrested patients.
Silverman's (1967), (1969), (1975) research indicates that stimuli that are out of conscious awareness can motivate us in either helpful or disruptive ways. This repeated finding offers an experimental demonstration of the functioning of the unconscious. His, by now classic, experiments indicate that when aggressive stimuli are subliminally presented to schizophrenic patients there is an increase in disordered thinking. Stimuli geared to the particular psychodynamic constellations of other diagnostic groups, increased their symptomotology as well. These findings corroborate the psychoanalytic theory of psychopathology. When derivatives of unconscious conflictual wishes press for expression, symptoms emerge.
If particular subliminal stimuli trigger psychopathology, the researchers reasoned, other stimuli should reduce pathology. They have found that the "Mommy and I Are One" stimulus does, in fact, diminish symptomatology in a number of subject populations.
The "Mommy and I Are One" research is based on the theoretical