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In what way might a Lacanian perspective of the clinic be of use to those whose orientation is self psychology, intersubjectivity theory, or Relational psychoanalysis? The answer came to me during two sessions with two different patients. In the first instance, a patient, who knocked on the waiting room door when I did not open it within 45 seconds of her having pressed the call light, explained that I usually respond to her call immediately: She was worried that I might not have heard “the sound of my going to the bathroom.” She meant that I could have failed to hear her take the restroom key and leave the waiting room for the restroom. I responded, “Hear the sound of you going to the bathroom?” Her immediate reaction was dismissive, along the lines of, “Okay, okay, you're not going to get Freudian on me, are you?” I agreed with her that there was no use in getting “Freudian.” I then asked if, allowing for our
both knowing what she consciously intended, she might nevertheless see what came to her mind with the thought, “someone hearing the sound of her going to the bathroom.” She replied, “Now that you mention it, I have a micturition phobia.” Associations came, including fantasies of someone listening at a stall wall to her urinating.
In the second instance, I attempted to alter the ethical position of another patient (adult male) in relation to our work—a patient who had been working with me for a few years and who was clinging to a subjective position of “I don't know,” “I'm not ready,” “I'm tired,” and “I'm overwhelmed,” as if to say he is not the one to approach with a question. I spoke first, something rather rare for me to do. I offered: “Perhaps we can assume the stance that you have nothing that you have to defend here.” After a momentary pause, he replied: “That sounds good.” I waited. Following a longer pause, he then enthusiastically stated that the best video game ever devised is Defender. I asked him to tell me about the game. As it turns out, the o