Foetal Psychology and the Analytic Process

This Paper focuses attention upon the emergence, during an analysis, of clinical material which can best be understood in terms of foetal psychology. By acknowledging the existence of this aspect of psychic life, recognising its presence within the transference, and interpreting it, the analysis can become a more complete and satisfying experience for both patient and analyst.

The events and the ideas, which together led to the formulation of this paper, began some years ago when I was practising as a general physician as well as an analyst. General medical practice provides a marvellous opportunity for the physician who views ‘dis-ease’ as a psychosomatic disturbance. Naturally, certain conditions are almost exclusively somatic in origin, while others arise predominantly from psychic factors. Nevertheless, the ‘whole person’ approach is always a valid attitude to adopt. My patients with fractured limbs did not normally expect me to discuss their dreams. However, if a pattern of recurrent serious injuries developed, (i.e. accident proneness), my care would have been incomplete if I did not start to pay attention to their inner life. Those patients suffering from peptic ulcers, hypertension, asthma and so on, were often greatly relieved when I showed interest in their life situation and an awareness that areas of conflict could be relevant to their problem. The greatest opportunity for linking medical and analytical concepts, however, lies in the area of mother/ infant observation and interaction. My patient, Mrs J, who brought her six-week-old baby girl to my consulting room one afternoon, provided me with an example illustrative of this viewpoint. Furthermore, her case had so profound an effect on me that it initiated an investigative psychological journey on my part whose aim was to achieve a deeper understanding of the nature of neonatal and prenatal psychic life.