The Therapist's Maternal Function

In the 1980s, Pierre Marty formulated the idea that in psychosomatic clinical practice, the work with the patient ranged “from the maternal function to psychoanalysis” (Marty, 1990, p. 95). The therapist's maternal function, from Marty's economic perspective, is required with patients whose psychic apparatus has been overwhelmed by traumas (recent or distant), thus making the full use of their mental functioning unavailable (either temporarily or regularly). The analyst then finds himself faced with an “operational” (opératoire) type of functioning, for defensive purposes, characterised by a very factual discourse centred on current events, while associative work remains quite limited and affects are massively suppressed.

A man came for a consultation with a medical prescription, not for his psychic suffering but due to the serious consequences of a somatic illness. After one year of psychotherapy, this is how one of his sessions unfolded.

The patient said: “I finally went to see J. We signed the papers and I left immediately. I was calm. I took the papers directly to the lawyer. There we are, it's done.” “You were afraid you wouldn't be able to remain calm?” the analyst asked. “Well, yes,” the patient replied, “I was afraid I would not be able to control myself, as we said here, but now it's done, one file less on the pile. It was quite a headache, but the following day I didn't think about it anymore”. He continued by recounting the events of the week, but he couldn't find a comfortable position in his chair, and kept moving and frowning. The analyst intervened as soon as he made a pause: “It looks as if are feeling a lot of pain today.” “Yes,” the patient said, “this weekend I tried to saw off the branches of a tree; it wasn't easy.” The analyst replied: “Perhaps try leaning back in your chair a bit more. (The analyst leaned back in her chair at the same time.) What could you do to make things better?” “I would need to go back and see my dear osteopath,” the patien